Dead Briefs
by Lara Kingsley
Summary: AU-kinda After the death of her father, newly Law School graduate Sookie Stackhouse moves to Bon Temps, Louisiana to be closer to her Gran, her brother and her very special client. **Formerly True Blood Project**
1. Prologue

**Author Note**: This is my first True Blood fic, so be nice ;) I am looking for a title for this fic (it had been bugging me for a while and I had to start writing it or I would have gone crazy!) so you're welcome to give me some idea. This is un-Beta, so all mistakes are my own. Don't forget to leave me a review. Luv, LaraK

Prologue

I drove my rental car down Hummingbird Lane, singing along to the radio. Who would have thought that I, Sookie Stackhouse, would be moving down to Bon Temps, Louisiana? Well, my family was originally from that tiny little town settled somewhere between Shreveport and Monroe, but apart from spending some of my summer holiday, I hadn't really spent that much time there. Sure my Gran still lived in the ancestral home, my brother Jason had moved to Shreveport after finishing Law School 3 years ago and our firm's clients were all living within 200 miles. And ever since daddy passed away earlier this year I've been feeling quite lonely up in Boston.

So when I finally finished Law School I made the decision to follow into my brother's footsteps. Honestly it was for the best. Ever since the Great Revelation our firm's need for secrecy was outdated. You see our firm, Auditore & Stackhouse, is not a typical law firm. Ever since its founding, back as a private bank in Florence, Italy in the late 14th century, it has cater to a specific type of clients. Vampires, to be exact. Up until 1905, the then Auditore Law Firm only had two clients, the same two clients since it was founded by Lorenzo Auditore. It was a family business, passed from father to son until the late 1970s when Vito Auditore, already in his late 60s and childless, asked a young law graduate, Corbett Stackhouse – my father, to join him and become his protégé. Of course he didn't tell my daddy right away about what his clients really were. Can you imagine? My daddy would have thought old Vito was bat crazy! But my dad did agree to work for Vito, went back to Bon Temps to marry his high school sweetheart and brought her to Boston to start their lives together. My brother Jason was born soon after, followed by me three years later.

We had a great life in Boston, up until mama died when I was 7. She was visiting my Gran and my Aunt Linda when she was caught in a flash flood… Daddy did his best to raised Jason and I... And it wasn't always easy. Between an overactive 10 year-old little boy and a 7 year-old telepathic little girl… Oh yes, did I forgot to mention it. I'm a telepath. Quite useful when you're a lawyer, can always tell when someone's lying, you know.

So here I am now. Moving in with my Gran, in Bon Temps, Louisiana. I'm bracing myself for the worst. I might not have spent a lot of time in my ancestral hometown, but I know that people here are not as open-minded as people in the North. I'm not being judgmental, but people in the Deep South are known for being narrow-minded, the proof being how the Fellowship of the Sun, an anti-vampire church based in Dallas, is quite popular.

I pulled the car down the driveway and smile at the view of my family's house. There had been a lot of improvement since I was down here in February to bury my father. The roof and paint looked brand new and the wraparound porch had been redone. Jason and Gran never said a thing on the phone… My thoughts were quickly invaded by those of the occupants of the house, meaning my Gran's and Jason's.

''_I hope my Sookie likes the improvement he made to the house…'' _

''_Where the hell is she? I should have picked her up from the airport…'' _

I smiled and cut the ignition, grabbing my purse and walking up the stairs. Opening the door I took a deep breath.

''I'm home!''

TBC


	2. Chapter 1

**Author Note: **Here's a new chapter! I hadn't planned on posting so soon, but blame insomnia! As usual feel free to leave a review (and/or a suggestion for a title... still no inspiration on that front) they are always welcomed (I live for them!). Luv, LaraK

**Chapter 1**

I put my 'shields' back on before facing the Inquisition.

''Where the hell have you been, Sook? You should have been here two hours ago!''

''Relax, Jason. I got lost. Took the wrong exit.''

''Jason, dear, why don't you go grab your sister's luggage?''

Thank God for Gran. Reluctantly Jason went outside and let out a gasp at the view of my rental.

''Great car, sis. Let me guess, one of His?''

''No, but I'm pretty sure He's the one who arranged for it.''

Of course He had arranged for it. It was a brand new cherry red Corvette C6 ZR1, too flashy for my taste and with not enough trunk load. Gran grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me what could only be described as a bear hug.

''My little Sookie… It's so good to have you with us. I was so worried about you, all alone in that big city. ''

I laughed. ''Do I have to remind you that I was born and raised in that big city, Gran? You should worry more about me getting lost on the roads of Northern Louisiana.''

''Pish posh. Now, you must be hungry? I'm pretty sure those airlines lunch are not worth good old fashioned Southern comfort food. Tell me, what would you like me to cook you?''

''Don't trouble yourself, Gran. How about we eat out tonight? No cooking, no cleaning?''

Jason dropped my two pieces of luggage down by the stairs and quickly nodded.

''How 'bout we all go to Merlotte's?''

''Merlotte's?'' I asked.

''That's a nice bar and grill, about 10 minutes drive from here, dear'' explained Gran. ''That's where Tara Thornton and her cousin works. You remember Tara, right Sookie? You two used to always play together when you came down for the summer.''

Of course I remembered Tara, albeit it had been probably nearly 15 years since I last saw her.

''Well she's a barmaid there and her cousin Lafayette is a cook.''

I frowned. ''Lafayette? I don't think I remember him.''

''You might not. He was never in Bon Temps during the summer. Oh and I have to tell you, before you met him… He is… Young Lafayette is quite… flamboyant, if you know what I mean. But he's a real sweetheart, you'll see.''

Gran went to grab her purse and keys while Jason whispered in my ear.

''Flamboyant is code word for gay. And Lafayette is as gay as a fairy. Always trying to hit on me.''

''Jason! Not all fairies are gay!''

We were interrupted by Gran, who had apparently had enough time to changed into one of her the dress she always wear to her Descendants of the Glorious Dead meetings. I looked at Jason in his sport jacket and at myself in a pair Daisy Dukes and white blouse. I clearly was underdressed or they both were overdress.

''Oh, Gran… Let me change real quick, will you?''

''Why? You are perfect like that, sweetie. Come on, I'm sure you are starving.''

We pilled up into Jason Escalade, Gran riding shotgun and me sitting in the back.

''That bar and grill… You said it was called Merlotte's, right Gran?'' She nodded. ''Would it belong to a Samuel Merlotte by any chance?''

''It sure does, Sam Merlotte moved down to Bon Temps a couple of years ago. He owns several houses as well. Why?''

''I want to kill two birds with one stone. I need to speak to him about some properties He would like to acquire.''

Gran frowned. ''Did you know about it, Jason? I would thought He would have asked you, since you are already in the area. He sure didn't told me when he came last Sunday for dinner.''

''What?!''

''Oh, yeah, didn't you know Sook? He comes every Sunday night to have dinner with Gran'' explained Jason, making air quote to dinner. ''It's what I call their History Club meeting. But Mrs Fortenberry thinks He's Gran's suitor.''

I laughed.

''Jason Stackhouse! Keep your hands on the wheel, your eyes on the road and stop spreading Maxine Fortenberry's gossip. And for your information She comes too! We have amazing conversation about the evolution of fashion. She has such nice tastes!''

''You haven't seen what She wears at work'' muttered Jason under his breath.

A smile creeped on the corner of my mouth. I knew what he meant. I had seen what They both wore when they were on display at their bar and compared to the pink and pastel She normally wore off duty it was quite a contrast.

''Here we are!''

Merlotte's Bar and Grill met my expectations. A Southern watering hole/family dinner. Several cars were parked and I checked my shields just in case. We were welcomed by a brunette waitress whose bored look vanished the moment she spotted Jason.

''_Oh my God! That's Jason Stackhouse! Yummy as hell… And loaded too. I mean he works for that Vamp and he's a lawyer. If only I could get him into bed with me… A lawyer's wife, I wouldn't have to work in this damn shit hole. But who's the blond bimbo? And why is he with his old hag of a grandmother…'' _

I put on my 'Crazy Sookie' smile, the one I wore when I was cross-examining an hostile witness. ''Hi, table for three, please.''

''Follow me'' she said, quickly showing us to a booth.

She left us some menus before telling us our waitress would be with us in a moment.

''Do you know her, Jason?''

Looking up his menu, he simply said, ''That's Dawn Green. She's a regular at His bar. Saw her a couple of time when I was there for business. Apparently she's quite the fangbanger.''

As soon as the word escaped his mouth, Gran's hand stroked his.

''Don't say that awful word, Jason Stackhouse. It's not poor Dawn's fault if she's emotionally dependant.''

''Spending all her free time flirting and fu… and having sexual relations with vampires doesn't really help with the emotional dependency, Gran.''

A thin red head came up to our table with a pen and a paper pad.

''Hiya Mrs Stackhouse! Haven't seen you in awhile…''

''Good evening, Arlene dear. How are Coby and Lisa doing?''

''They're doing great. René is watching them tonight…''

''Tell them I said hi. You know my grandson Jason, right?''

''Yeah, the lawyer from Shreveport, right?''

''And this young lady is his sister, my granddaughter Sookie. She just moved from Boston. Sookie dear, this is Arlene Fowler. I told you about her, I babysat her children from time to time.''

''Oh, yes. Gran keeps praising how well behave they are.''

I also remembered how she told me the poor woman had been married three times already and was heading to her fourth husband.

''Well, what can I bring you tonight?''

After some suggestion from Gran and Jason I opted for a glass of Sweet Tea and Merlotte's famous Lafayette's Burger.

''I'll be back with your orders shortly.''

I looked around the establishment, looking for Sam Merlotte. I had been given some basic information about him, but not a lot. After excusing myself I went to the bar where an African-American woman was mixing drinks.

''Good evening… You're Tara, right? Tara Thornton?''

''Depend who's askin'… And you are?''

Wow, rude. And here I thought all girls who had grown up in the South were supposed to be nice, sweet Southern Belle type.

''I don't know if you remember me, I'm Sookie Stackhouse, Adele Stackhouse's granddaughter. I just moved here from Boston.''

With a rise eyebrow Tara said. ''Oh, yeah. The girl from the North. Welcome to Bon Temps, I guess.''

''Thank you. Could it be possible to speak to Mr Merlotte?''

''SAM!'' she yelled toward the back of the bar.

A second later a man appeared, clearly annoyed. ''What the hell Tara! Don't yell in front of the clients!''

''Well if you'd spent more time behind the bar, I wouldn't have to yell. Here, someone's asking for you. I'm taking my break.''

And with that she left.

''But you just took a break 20 minutes ago…''

''Whatever…''

Sam Merlotte was 5'10 with light brown hair and blue eyes. So definitely not my type. But then again I didn't really have a type, more like an ideal. He went behind the bar and looked at me curiously.

''_Hope she's looking for a job… She'd look great in the uniform… What the… She reeks of fangers! God, I better not hire her. One fangbanger on the payroll is enough…'' _

''No need to resort to name calling, Shifter.''

The moment the word shifter escaped my lips he grabbed me by the arms and pushed me toward what I soon discover was his office.

''Who the hell are you?!''

I rolled my eyes. ''My name is Sookie Stackhouse, Shifter. I'm a lawyer for AIK, I'm here to talk to you about a plot of land you own that my client would like to acquire. Oh and unlike that waitress you're lusting after, I am NOT a fangbanger.''

My little speech left him, well speechless.

''Now, can we sit and talk about my business proposal? Or do you need time to recover?''

''_What the hell is she? Stackhouse… Could she be related to Mrs Stackhouse…'' _

''Yes, I'm Adele Stackhouse's granddaughter. And I'm a lawyer. Oh and a telepath.''

''A telepath? What…''

''Don't look so surprised. You're a shifter, Vampires came out of the coffin a couple of years ago, I'm pretty sure you're aware there are Weres so a telepath? No big deal.''

''_She says she's no fangbanger… But the smell…'' _

I sighed. ''Look, I smell like vamps because I work for vampires. Working for them doesn't automatically make me a fangbanger. I knew you were quite narrow minded in the South, but come on! You're a shifter! You shift into any animal you wants, that's even creepier. You can shift into a cat or a dog and play Peeping Tom. I'm pretty sure you've already done it with that Dawn girl…''

''Stay out of my head!''

I smiled. I was having so much fun. I searched through my purse and handed him one of my business card.

''Call me when you'll recover so we can talk about my proposal. My client is ready to offer you more than three times what the municipal evaluation is for the land between your bar and the lake. Think about it.''

When I went back to our table our meals were there and I was surprised by the amount of people surrounding it. Seems like Gran was quite the popular person.

''And here she is! Come here, Sookie dear, I'd like to introduce you to some people, even though you met them all those years ago. This is Bud Dearborn, our sheriff, Andy Bellefleur, one of our detective, and of course you remember Maxine Fortenberry and her son Hoyt.''

I politely nodded, even though I didn't really remember any of them.

''And this is my granddaughter, Sookie. She just finished Law School and moved to Bon Temps.''

''Nice to meet you all.''

I lowered my shields a little, like I always did when meeting new people.

''_A lawyer… I wonder if she'll go work for the County DA. Adele is an old friend, I'm sure I'd be real good to have someone to trust in the DA office.'' _

''A lawyer?'' asked Detective Bellefleur. ''My sister Portia's a lawyer too. Got her office in town. She might be able to hire you if you're lookin' for somethin'. She went to Tulane.''

''Thank you very much, Detective Bellefleur, but that won't be necessary. Jason and I inherited our father's firm which is why I moved to Louisiana. Almost all our clients are in Shreveport. Oh and Tulane seems like a great university, it's in New Orleans, right?''

''Yeah. And you? Where did you go?''

''Same as Jason, Harvard.''

''_How in hell could the Stackhouses afford to send two kids to some fancy pants university?'' _

I tried not to react too much at what Mrs Fortenberry was thinking.

''Harvard, you say? Are you like old man Compton, Adele? Hiding away a fortune and living like a church mouse?''

Gran frowned at her 'friend'.

''Maxine Fortenberry! How dare you talk about the dead like that! Jessie Compton might have been a miser, but it's no excuse to speak of him like that now that he's not here anymore to defend himself! ''

''And for your information, Mrs Fortenberry, both Sookie's and my scholarship to Harvard were paid in part by our firm's client. They wanted to best and did what they had to do to get the best.''

In that one moment I was so proud of my brother. At first glance you would take him for a lazy, good-for-nothing type of guy, but it was all a facade.

''See Hoyt, that's what happened when kids are raised by single father in big horrible cities like Boston! No respect at all! You should be ashamed of your grandkids, Adele Stackhouse!''

Hoyt apologetically looked at Gran before following his mother back to their table. It was kinda odd to see a grown man close to Jason's age act like a scared little boy next to his mother. Sheriff Dearborn and Detective Bellefleur quickly excused themselves leaving us three Stackhouses alone.

''Wow'' I said. ''That woman is something!''

''Don't judge her too hard, Sookie dear. Maxine Fortenberry didn't have an easy life, you know.''

''Easy life or not, Gran, it's no excuse to treat you like that! And have you seen how she treats her son? How old is he, anyway?''

''Same age as me, Sook. But he's still living with his Mama and he lets her treat him like sh… like dirt.''

Gran sighed. ''So, how did it go with Sam Merlotte, Sookie? You weren't gone that long…''

I thought for a second about what to say to Gran. Was I going to out Merlotte to her? Why not, she was quite open minded. She had taken the Great Revelation quite well, becoming fast friend with Them.

''It didn't go well. I dropped my shields down a little and what I heard didn't please me. First he thought I was applying for a job, then my smell repelled him. Started thinking I was a fangbanger.''

''Your smell?''

''He's a shifter, Gran. Kinda like Werewolf, except he can shift into any animals. From the information I received he seems to favoured dogs.''

Anybody else would have freaked out at this revelation, but not Gran.

''I knew there was something fishy about him! Hey, is it why He asked me to keep an eye on him?''

I shrugged.

''Gran? Something to say?''

She took a sip of her sweet tea and just sighed.

''Nothing surprises me anymore, sweetie.''

Jason and I both burst in laugh. We continue our dinner without any other interruption and left after paying and leaving quite an hefty tip to Arlene. We were heading toward Jason's SUV when my cell phone beeped, alerting me of an incoming text message.

**Hope you had a safe flight. **

**Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night. **

**E **

**PS Hope you liked your car **

''Work?'' asked Gran.

I smiled. ''Yeah. Guess work is really starting tomorrow night.''

TBC


	3. Chapter 2

**Author Note: **I'm back! Thank you all for the nice reviews, it's always nice to hear feedback. So here's chapter 2 of TBP (still working on the title, but I'm getting closer to choose one, continue sending me idea whether by PM or in a review). So without further ado I'm giving you this brand new chapter! Don't forget to leave me a review. Luv, LaraK

Chapter 2

We call it a night and Jason dropped both Gran and I back at the farmhouse before going back to his penthouse in Shreveport. Gran soon kissed me goodnight, leaving me to unpack my belongings. I hadn't brought much, mostly my summer clothes and my suits. I left all my warm winter stuff in Boston seeing as the lowest temperature in Louisiana would be around 40 degrees. I sighed at what little I had. I would need to go shopping tomorrow before heading for Fangtasia.

I still thought the name was pretty cheesy, but apparently it worked with the tourists and the fangbangers. At first I had thought that the novelty would wear off quickly after the Great Revelation, but according to the financial report I had gotten last month I had been wrong. Maybe the fact that He was 'enthralling' the vermins, as She put it, every night by sitting on a throne helped. Not that I had seen it for myself, tomorrow would be my first time at Their bar.

I looked around what had used to be my room when I came down to visit and sighed. The white dresser and vanity, which were antiques that had been in the Stackhouse family for generations, were more than okay, but the tiny single bed? Seems like I would need to go to a furniture store as well during my shopping spree.

I took a quick shower, braided my long hair and brushed my teeth before turning the light off.

Morning came way too soon and after nearly falling down the small bed I was heading down for some breakfast.

''Good morning, Gran!''

Gran was already dressed for the day and behind the stove cooking bacon.

''Good morning, Sookie dear. Hope you had a nice sleep.''

I grabbed a mug and got myself some fresh coffee.

''Yeah, speaking of sleep… I need to do some shopping today and I was thinking of maybe buying a new bed and mattress for my bedroom. The rest of the furniture is perfect, but I've been used to sleeping in a King Size bed for so long…''

''You fell off the bed?'' she laughed. ''It happened to Jason too, when he first moved down, before he bought that Penthouse of his.''

''Yeah… And I need some more clothes. My Boston wardrobe is not suitable for hot Louisiana day.''

She put a plate in front of me, full of bacon, eggs and biscuit. It smelled so damn good.

''Eat before it gets cold. I'm gonna do some gardening then I'm off to my DGD meeting.''

''Thanks, it looks delicious.''

''I don't know what they feed you in Boston, but you need more meat on your bones, little girl. And a good tan wouldn't be bad either.''

I sighed. The eternal debate with my Gran about my weight. It's not my fault if I can eat anything I want without gaining a pound. But the tan might be a good idea. Our brownstone was located near the Freedom Trail in downtown Boston, which meant that we didn't have that much of a backyard.

''I think I'll follow your advice and lie around in the yard.''

I finished my plate, put it in the sink and went to check my cell phone. Sam Merlotte hadn't call, but I had one text message from Her.

**Can't wait to see you, Tinkerbell.**  
**He's been more cranky than usual, seeing you might help.**  
**P**

Her and Her nickname… But I shouldn't complain, Tinkerbell was better than Plum Sugar, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather.

When I came down in my bikini, hoping it wouldn't scandalize Gran too much, I stopped to look at the pictures hanging on the wall. I smiled at my parents' wedding picture, photos of my dad and Aunt Linda as small children and of Jason, our cousin Hadley and I during one of my last summer in Bon Temps. Aunt Linda had died a couple of years ago after a long battle against cancer without her daughter by her side. Hadley had runaway at 16, got into drugs, came back at 20, got put in rehab, then ran away from rehab but not before stealing Gran's checks book.

''Gran, have you heard from Hadley?''

She sighed. ''No… I would have thought she would have come down for your father's funeral seeing as his obituary was in most newspaper… That child was always way too wild. I just hope my worst…''

She couldn't finish. But then, I knew what she meant. We were all hoping the worst case scenario wouldn't come true. That she wasn't some Jane Doe found dead in a dark alley in New Orleans.

''Now, go get a tan, sweetheart, then enjoy some shopping. I don't think I'll be back for dinner, think you're gonna be okay by yourself?''

I smiled. ''Don't worry about me, Gran. I'm a big girl.''

The rest of the day passed in a blur. I went to the Monroe Target to complete my wardrobe, buying myself several pairs of short shorts, tank tops and sundresses. I found a really cute halter top, sweetheart neckline white dress with red flowers that would be perfect for tonight. I would get noticed immediately and people would most likely underestimate me. Really, have you ever seen a lawyer, one that works for vampires, dressed as such for a business meeting?

I finished my shopping spree with a stop at Ashley Furniture. It didn't take me too long to find the perfect bed. The Silverglade King Size bed I choose was the first one I saw and it was love at first sight. It looked antique enough not to clash with the white dresser and vanity that already graced my room. After choosing a very comfortable mattress, handing my credit card to the vendor and being told that my purchases would be delivered the next day, I was heading back to Bon Temps.

It was nearly 3PM and my stomach was growling. After a quick tour of 'downtown' Bon Temps – if we could call the main street downtown – I realized there wasn't many option for a late lunch so I settled to go back to Merlotte's.

Unlike the night before, the parking lot was almost deserted. There was a pickup truck by the trailer behind the bar and a white convertible Mercedes that had seen better days. The place was empty, except for a woman sitting at the bar, clearly drunk as a skunk as Gran would say.

''Um, is the restaurant closed?''

''Lafayette!'' yelled the woman.

What was it with those Bon Temps people and yelling? A tall black man, head covered in a bright coloured scarf, hoop earrings, fake eyelashes and eye shadow came from what I assume was the kitchen. Gran had sure hit the bull's eye when she said he was 'flamboyant'.

''What you want, Baby Jane?''

''A refill and that'' she slurred, pointing at me.

''Hi'' I said, smiling. ''Are you open for business, or…''

''We sure are open, Little Miss Sunshine. Tell Lala what you need.''

''You're Lafayette Reynolds?''

''You heard of me?''

My smile grew a little bit more.

''Yes, my Gran and brother told me about you. Adele and Jason Stackhouse? I'm Sookie Stackhouse.''

''You is Ms Adele's granddaughter? Well, ain't you a looker like that brother of yours. Y'all Stackhouses are all good looking bitches.''

I laugh. ''I'll be sure to tell Jason you said hi.''

''Now, what can Lala cook for you, sweetheart?''

He cooked me a delicious Southern meal with a tall glass of sweet tea. When I went back to my car there was two Border Collies waiting for me.

''Merlotte you really are stupid if you think I would fall for that. Call me when you're ready to talk business, Shifter.''

I drove back to the farmhouse and spent the next couple of hours getting ready for tonight. Showers, shaving, hair and make-up, the whole nine yards. I looked at myself in the mirror, satisfied. I don't know why, but my heart was racing. I mean, I was meeting Them to talk business… I had known Them almost all my life… I had also had a crush on Him since I was 5…

I drove down toward Shreveport, making sure not to miss any exit. Fangtasia was located in a commercial district, close to a strip mall and next to a Toys "R" Us. I parked next to His car, an even flashier blood red Corvette, and went toward the entrance. There was a long line, but She was playing the bouncer tonight. Several people loudly told me to get back to the line, but the moment She saw me she growled at them.

''Tinkerbell. You're late. He's grumpy and keeps playing Angry Birds on his phone.''

''Hi Pam.''

**_TBC_**


	4. Chapter 3

**Author Note: **This girl is on fire! Wow, I never thought I'd have chapter 3 up so soon! I'm currently dogsitting for my aunt who's in Paris (lucky her) so between long walks by Château Frontenac and the Battlefields I wrote. Thank you to all of those who favs and follow this fic. To Enecs, whitangel, Angie (so glad you like smart Sookie, Perfecta999, racecz5, JfozzI (hope you like the fact that this chapter is EPOV) and ashmo2000, thank you for your kind reviews.

So here's chapter 3, an Eric POV! The Swedish is of course courtesy of Google Translation, so any mistake is because of it ;) As usual leave a review, it's always great to have feedback (I start to sound like an old record!) As for the title of this fic, by next chapter it's gonna be changed, at least I hope! Luv, LaraK

Chapter 3

I was bored. For a thousand years old vampire, boredom was a bad thing, a really bad thing. During my millennia on Earth, I had several bouts of boredom. The first one happened nearly a hundred years after I was made vampire. Luckily for me, the Second Crusade got me out of it. But after the thrill of years of killing in the so-called Holy Land, boredom came back with a vengeance. Again, the crusade, the Third this time, got me out of it. By the time of the Fourth Crusade, not even 10 years after the last one, it had become quite old and what had once got me out of boredom was now boring me. My maker, Godric, and I spent the rest of the Middle Ages roaming around Europe, taking advantage of the Black Death to feed in complete impunity.

By the time of the Renaissance, we were in Italy and it was a not so boring period. I took great interest in the arts, going as far as becoming a patron for young artists. By 1476, Godric and I had settled in Florence, in a luxurious palazzo in the San Giovanni district – a palazzo that I still own to this day. We had several artists in residence, glamoured to let us feed on them. My favourite one being a young man from Vinci, a talented painter, inventor and a delicious meal.

After that, boredom hit me every 200 years, approximately. I was glad for the Tudor Era and the splendour of its court and then the French Revolution. I spent most the 19th century in England, becoming a close friend of Prinny - Prince George, later King George IV. By the late 1890, I made my way to America for the first time. I wondered around, going from one Vampire court to another, seeing New York, Philadelphia and Chicago before arriving in San Francisco. That's where I found Pam, my Childe.

My last bout of boredom was about 20 years ago, just after I first came to Louisiana to become Queen Sophie-Anne's Sheriff. Godric, already Sheriff of Area 9-Dallas, and Pam, who was living in Minnesota at the time, took me to Boston to meet with our lawyer for our annual visit. That's when I met her… The cure to all boredom.

* * *

_The night was young. The sun had set about an hour ago and we were walking down the street of downtown Boston toward the brownstone of our lawyer. We were a strange party of three of us, my Maker, my Childe and I. We finally reached the house that also hosted the Auditore & Stackhouse law firm. As if on cue, the door opened on a tired looking Corbett Stackhouse. __  
__  
__"Godric, Eric, Miss Pam…"__  
__  
__"Corbett" simply stated my Maker. __  
__  
__"Please, come on in."__  
__  
__We entered the foyer facing the massive staircase. The wall were covered with family pictures as well as paintings of all the Auditores who had served us, going back to Giovanni, the founder of the family. __  
__  
__"I apologize if the house is a mess. Michelle is in Louisiana with Jason and I haven't had time to clean up."__  
__  
__"What about your youngest?" I asked. "A little girl, Sookie right? She's 5, if I'm not wrong."__  
__  
__A smile appeared on Corbett's face at the mention of his daughter. __  
__  
__"Well you know of my heritage, how my father was part fae and a telepath… Seems like telepathy skipped a generation." __  
__  
__"Your little girl is a fucking telepath?!"__  
__  
__"Pamela, language, please" scolded my Maker. __  
__  
__"Sorry, GrandSire…"__  
__  
__"I was supposed to drop them off at the airport this morning, but Sookie had… She had an episode. She couldn't keep her walls up enough and got bombarded by the thoughts of the people in the terminal. She refused to board the plane." __  
__  
__Godric seemed very interest. "She's able to keep the thoughts of others by 'building' walls in her mind?"__  
__  
__Corbett nodded. "It's something Jason came up with. Told her to imagine walls surrounding her and blocking all the thoughts." __  
__  
__We all sat down, ready to get to business, when soft padded footsteps were heard from the stairs. __  
__  
__"Daddy?"__  
__  
__We all turned toward the door where a tiny little blond girl in a pink nightgown and a soft flannel blanket was looking at us with tears streaming her face. __  
__  
__"Sookie, sweetheart, you're supposed to be in bed…"__  
__  
__"The monster wanted to take me" she said between sobs. "And Jason is not here to make him go away!"__  
__  
__She let out a gasp when she finally noticed us. Gone were the tears and an awed look was now illuminating her face. __  
__  
__"Daddy is busy right now, baby…"__  
__  
__Too late, the little girl, Sookie, was walking toward us. She touched Godric hand, then Pam's and finally mine before turning to her father. __  
__  
__"Daddy, I can't hear them!"__  
__  
__"What?"_

"_Their heads, daddy! Their heads are empty!"__  
__  
__She looked like she was trying real hard to get into our minds and let out a squeal after a while. __  
__  
__"Who are they, daddy?"__  
__  
__Corbett took his little girl's hand and proceeded to introduce us. __  
_

"_These are daddy's clients. I work for them. This is Mister Godric…" __  
__  
__She smiled shyly at my maker and waved her little hand. __  
__  
__"Miss Pam…"__  
__  
__She walked toward my Childe and hugged her. It was funny to see how stiff my progeny went. __  
_

"_You are really pretty, Miss Pam. And you have a nice dress." __  
__  
__This little girl knew how to get on my Childe's good side: by stroking her vanity and her love of fashion. __  
__  
__"And this is Mr Eric."__  
__  
__She looked up at me, her eyes going big. __  
_

"_You are soooo tall!"__  
__  
__''And you are so tiny'' I stated. __  
__  
__"Of course I am, silly! I'm a little girl. Up!"__  
__  
__She threw her arms in the air and Pam had to whisper in my ear that she wanted me to carry her. It had been more than a thousand years since I had held a child, my baby sister, and I had to admit that I was afraid to break her. She quickly put her head on my shoulder, sighing. __  
__  
__"You are like a big bubble… I can't even hear daddy!"_

_She closed her eyes and, after a while, Godric told Corbett to proceed with our meeting. When I gave the little girl back to her father, sound asleep, when we left, I felt a strange pull to my dead heart. It was as if, for a tiny second, after more than a thousand years, it beat._

* * *

I smiled at the memory, before growling at the 'vermins' surrounding the stage where sat my throne. From that moment, that first meeting, I knew my undead life wouldn't be the same.

I suddenly felt a pull… I felt her before even seeing her. Even though it had been years since I had last given her my blood, the bond was as strong as the day we had made it. I looked toward the entrance and smirked. Only her could pulled that virginal look in a vampire bar. She had always been special, my special little telepath…

* * *

_We were back in Boston, the first time in two years. We had skipped our visit last year when Corbett had lost his wife Michelle in a freak flash flood in Louisiana. We had of course attended the wake, if not the actual funeral, and had offered our sincere condolences to the whole family. This sad event had at least brought some good thing. We had met Corbett's mother, Adele. Even though we hadn't told her exactly what we were, she had welcomed both Godric, Pam and I with a warmth that had surprised me for a human. But that was Adele Hale-Stackhouse._

_The moment we arrived at the brownstone I knew something was wrong. The smell… It smelled of imminent death, of sickness. We knocked once, then twice, but no answer. Making sure nobody was looking, we made our way to the back of the house and, seeing an open window, we flew to the second floor._

_The window was to a soft pink room with a white canopy bed. Corbett was sitting at the bedside, holding the hand of a pale looking Sookie._

"_Oh… I had forgotten you were supposed to come tonight…"_

"_Corbett…"_

"_They don't know what's wrong with her" said our friend, looking years older than he was. "She's never been sick before. Never caught anything, not even a cold… But she's getting weaker and weaker every day. I sent Jason to my mother in Louisiana… I don't want to worry him."_

_Pam was fuming. _

"_Why didn't you call us before? We would have offered our help! Why did you let her waste away when you know what vampire blood can do!''_

_My maker tried to calm her down, but to no avail. Me, I was watching the little girl that I knew was always full of life. My sunshine in a pretty blond bottle, I had once called her. The smell of death was now clinging to her tiny body._

"_I didn't…'' started Corbett. "I… I didn't want to ask you that. I know how precious your blood is…''_

"Our blood might be precious to us, Corbett, but you are our friend. We all love that little girl."

_My maker's words seemed to calm the fearful father. Quickly, Godric sat on the bed, took Sookie's head in his laps before biting his wrist and pulling it to her mouth. She latched to it like a babe would to its mother's breast. Color seemed to go back to her cheeks until she started to cough and finally threw all the blood. It was the first time I had seen that happened. Never in my thousand years had I seen a human so violently reject vampire blood._

''_What is happening, GrandSire? Why isn't she keeping your blood?''_

_Godric was as clueless as Pam._

''_Maybe my blood is too potent, too old for her weak body'' he said._

_Without even thinking, Pam bit her own wrist and gave it to the little girl._

"_Hope you realize how significant it is, my little fairy. I have never shared my blood before.''_

_But again, Sookie threw it up. Bloody tears were starting to fill my Childe's beautiful blue eyes._

''_If she doesn't take our blood… Maybe we should turn her?''_

''_NO!''_

_My maker, my progeny and Corbett all turned toward me._

''_We can't turn her… First of all, she's a child. She'd resent being forever an 8 years old. And we don't know what would happen with her fairy heritage… Maybe that's why she's rejecting the blood.''_

''_Fairies don't get sick, Eric! And as you can see, she's dying! We have to do something!''_

"_Pamela, calm down!''_

"_Calm down? She's dying, Godric! She's dying and we…''_

''_Eric's blood'' whispered Corbett. "We haven't tried Eric's blood yet.''_

_Pam turned toward him. ''If Godric's and my blood's are too potent for her…''_

"_Corbett is right, Pamela'' softly said my Maker. "We have nothing to lose.''_

_He turned toward me and put his hand on my shoulder._

''_Fader, Broder, Son… Du vet vad du måste göra. Om någon kan rädda henne, det är du.''_

_I sat down on the bed, taking her tiny little hand in my much bigger one._

"_Eir, gudinna av läkning, jag behöver din hjälp. Vaka över henne som jag försöker att få henne tillbaka till hälsa. Freja, vaka över lilla Sookie i hennes kamp mot denna sjukdom. Odin, alla mäktiga far, ge mig styrka."_

_I bit my wrist and brought it to her mouth._

'' _Drick, min lilla älva. Dricker mitt blod så det kan ta dig tillbaka till hälsa."_

_The greedy little girl latched to my harm, drinking every drop I offered her. When the wound closed, I waited to see if she would also reject my blood like she rejected Godric's and Pam's. Her eyes slowly opened and she smiled._

''_Hi, Mister Eric…''_

_I smiled back at her and kissed her forehead before letting her father take my place. I retreated near Godric and Pam, my Childe wiping away tears from her eyes._

''_She'll need more of your blood, Eric."_

_I nodded, knowing that Sookie wasn't completely out of harm's way. Quickly, the little girl was back in Morpheus' arms._

"_Thank you, Eric" said Corbett._

"_She will need more of his blood, Corbett. Much more. It would be best if Sookie stayed with Eric for a while."_

"_You want to take her to Louisiana?"_

"_No, to my house, in __Öland."_

"_In Sweden?!"_

_I nodded. "It will be less suspicious that way. I'll tell the Queen I'm taking some time off, I'll leave Pam in charge of the Area. I promise you, my friend, that I'll take care of her as if she was the greatest treasure.''_

''_And when you'll bring her back… she'll be okay? She won't be sick?"_

"_I'll do my best."_

"_Alright, I entrust her to you. Take good care of my little girl, Eric. After Michelle… I can't lose her too.''_

_Half an hour later, I was carrying my precious cargo and her luggage. We would leave on the morrow for my homeland. The great air of the North and my blood would do her good._

* * *

She walked to me, holding her head high, not intimidated like the rest of the vermins. I got up and took her hand, kissing it.

"God kväll, min lilla älva."

"God kväll, min sköna Viking"

I showed her to my office, closing the door behind us. She smiled, putting her hands in my long hair.

"You're in bad need of a haircut, Eric."

**TBC**

**_Du vet vad du måste göra. _**_**Om någon kan rädda henne, det är du.** : You know what you must do. If anyone can save her, it's you._

_**Eir, gudinna av läkning, jag behöver din hjälp. Vaka över henne som jag försöker att få henne tillbaka till hälsa. Freja, vaka över lilla Sookie i hennes kamp mot denna sjukdom. Odin, alla mäktiga far, ge mig styrka.**:_ _Eir, goddess of healing, I need your help. Watch over her as I try to get her back to health. Freya, watch over little Sookie in her fight against this disease. Odin, all mighty father, give me strength._

_**Drick, min lilla älva. Dricker mitt blod så det kan ta dig tillbaka till hälsa.** : Drink, my little fairy. Drink my blood so it can take you back to health._

**God kväll, min lilla älva.** : Good evening, my little fairy

**God kväll, min sköna Viking.** : Good evening, my fair Viking


	5. Chapter 4

**Author Note: **This story finally has a name! No more True Blood Project, here comes Dead Briefs! A special thanks to Bschoen515 for the ideas, it really helped me into settling for this title.

Thank you to ashmo2000, Enecs, uroboros85, Perfecta999, jjpressley, whitangel, racecz5, erin1705, erin1705 and Ericsfae for their reviews. I will never say it enough, but feedback really helps me and my muse into giving you the next installment so soon. So, read, enjoy and leave a review! Luv, LaraK

Chapter 4

I put my hands through his long hair.

"You're in bad need of a haircut, Eric."

He laughed. How I loved the sound of it, as seldom as it was.

"I thought you liked my hair long."

"When I was a rebellious teenager, I did. But now… You look like Kurt Cobain. All that's missing is the flannel shirt."

"I'll let Pam knows. She's been harassing me about getting some highlights."

"Who does she thinks she is, Vidal Sassoon?"

He invited me to sit on the well-worn leather couch. He was so close to me that his scent invaded my nostrils.

"You still smell like the ocean in winter…"

"You know that it's impossible, min lilla."

"I don't care… You do smell like the North Sea. Maybe it's the fae in me…"

He just kept smiling.

"So… I saw the improvement you made to the farmhouse. You've got to tell me how much it cost so Jason and I can repay you…"

"You and your brother owe me nothing. Think of it as some sort of payment for the kindness Adele has shown both Pam and I. Your Gran is one exceptional woman. Had I met her in her younger years I might have been tempted to turn her."

"Then we wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation."

The look he gave me made me weak in the knee. Good thing I was sitting.

"You are right, we would not. But back to the improvements to the farmhouse, it served another purpose; it gives me another safe house in case of emergency."

"Safe house? But it is not light tight…"

A smirk appeared on his face.

"You haven't found my cubby yet?"

I couldn't believe it! A cubby?!

"You built a cubby in my Gran's house? A cubby?"

He nodded. "Adele was the one who came up with the idea. She thought an underground cubby would be safer than to light tight one of the upstairs bedroom. Next step will be to add a state of the art security system."

"A cubby? Where? Nothing has changed in the house…"

"Nothing has change, min lilla. The large wardrobe in the living room hides the entrance."

"A cubby…"

He took my hands in his large ones. "You already said that, min lilla. And the improvements to the house were also for you. I wanted you to be comfortable.''

"Did you have to glamour Gran into letting you do all those improvements?" I asked, half joking, half serious.

"She wasn't that hard to convince. I only had to glamour her into finally stopping asking me how much she owed me for all the works."

I shook my head and smiled.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it. You've always been so thoughtful…"

"Just don't let anyone find out how thoughtful I am."

I kissed his cheek and closed my eyes. I don't know if it's because of our bond, but every time he touches me, every time I touch him, it's as if the world stopped turning. Even though it had been years since our last blood exchange, it was still as strong as it was when we first made it. I was still surprised by the fact that the effects of my taking his blood were as strong after all those years. Albeit the effects were not the same as when I was a child.

During our summer in Öland, I had experienced some of the side effects of taking vampire blood. Every night I would dream of Eric. Totally innocent dreams, I mean, I was 8 years old! But with the years, those dreams took a different turn. I must have been 16 or 17 when they changed. It was no secret that I had always find him attractive, but he was my father's client and friend, a thousand year old vampire. And he had known me since I was a child. At first, I thought it was a typical teenager 'sex dream'. From what I had gathered from the girls at school, they all experienced it, albeit their dreams were starring famous actors, singers. Mine seemed to be totally different from theirs. Mine were featuring my Viking and they were extremely graphic. Let's just say that these dreams didn't really help me with the boys of my age. How could they ever compete with my Viking? My Viking who I had loved since I was a girl, who had a thousand years of experience, who, I knew, cared for me and who, unlike those stupid teenage boys, I couldn't hear?

I opened my eyes and blushed.

"I… About the land… The one you want to buy from Sam Merlotte? We went to his bar, last night, with Gran and Jason."

"So, what did you think of the Shifter?"

I let out a sigh.

"He's one hell of a jerk. He thought I was a fangbanger! Said because I smell like vampire, I was automatically one."

"Want me to go and hurt him for it?"

"No, he's not worth it. And I outed him, sorta. Told him I knew about him being a Shifter. Do you know what the little creep likes to do? Shift into a dog and spy on one of his waitress. In fact, you might know the waitress. Her name's Dawn, she's a regular here."

He seemed to try to remember her. "Yeah, I think I remember her. She offered to let me drink from her one night, but the disgusting smell of the Shifter was still on her. She then tried to make a pass at Jason."

I laughed. Lots of women had made pass at Jason. He might not have inherited our Grandfather telepathy, but he sure had inherited the enhanced beauty of the fae and their sexual magnetism.

"So, I made him the offer and told him to call me back with an answer. Even though I told him I was working for vamps, I didn't tell him that AIK was owned by one. And he doesn't know for which vamp I work."

He simply nodded.

"You didn't tell me what you wanted to do with this land… You've never been interest in acquiring real estate in Bon Temps before."

"Well, I plan on giving it to Adele. I've had Jason working on acquiring the old antebellum mansion across the cemetery."

"But why?"

"So she may do whatever she wants with it. Who knows, maybe Jason will build himself a house on the land once he settled down… Maybe you will want to build yourself a house. And the land was once part of the Stackhouse estate, so I'm just giving it back to its rightful owner."

There was a pregnant pause. I didn't know what to say. Thank you seemed like it wouldn't be enough.

"Is Gin and Tonic still your poison?"

I nodded and we left the office. A tall Native American vampire was mixing drinks behind the bar.

"Long Shadow, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Stackhouse, my lawyer."

I smiled.

"Doesn't look much like a lawyer. And I thought your lawyer was that guy who keeps attracting your leftovers." He took a deep breath. "She does smells like you…"

"Miss Stackhouse is MINE, Long Shadow. You best remember it."

I felt a tingle in the pit of my stomach as he acknowledges me as his.

"Miss Stackhouse will take a G&T. Have Ginger bring it to my booth."

His private booth was located in a quiet area of the bar where he could still have a clear view of the whole floor. I lowered my shields for a second and quickly regret it. Sex was mainly what was on everybody's mind and the mean thoughts the fangbangers had about me didn't interest me.

"Oh, I forgot… Nan Flannigan kept calling. She wants me to make some appearance at a VRA rally. I told her I wouldn't agree to anything until I talked to you."

"Nan Flannigan can go fuck herself. I've made enough donations to the AVL so there's no need for you to become a target of those fucking anti-vampire groups."

"I'll be sure to relay the message to her."

A blond waitress, wearing several bites marks on every bit of skin exposed by her skimpy attire, brought my G&T to the table.

"Will you need anything, Master?"

"Ginger, this is Miss Stackhouse. You are to serve her with the greatest care whenever she is at Fangtasia. Have I made myself clear?"

"Of course, Master. I'll take good care of your pet for you."

Eric quickly grabbed her wrist.

"She is MINE, but she is NOT a pet. Have I made myself clear, Ginger?"

Fear filled the woman's eyes as she nodded before leaving us.

"You didn't need to be this mean, Eric."

"I will not let anyone disrespect you, Sookie. You are not a fangbanger nor are you a pet. You are so much more…"

I smiled. This was a part of Eric that only a few lucky ones got to see. He might be the mighty Viking Vampire Sheriff of Area 5, a ruthless leader, but deep down there was this sweet being… The one who offered his blood to save the daughter of a friend, the one who spent a whole summer with a little girl, showing her the beauty of his homeland, the one who had dinner with an old woman every Sunday, the one who fixed an old farmhouse so I would be comfortable…

"I forgot to ask Jason about Godric… How is he doing?"

When Jason had joined the family business three years ago, our father had kept Eric and Pam as clients, but had given Godric to my brother. It had been the plan that when I'd graduate I would get Eric as mine, leaving my soon-to-be retired father with Pam. But a fatal car crash had changed everything.

"He's doing great, as far as I know. But you know Godric; he's not the most talkative vampire on Earth."

I nodded as I sipped my G&T.

"And how's the Queen?"

Although I had never met Sophie-Anne Leclerq, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, I had heard about her a lot since I was a child.

"Still a thoughtless bitch. She spends money that she does not have, did not help with the reconstruction of New Orleans after Katrina… She barely ever leaves her mansion and has a harem of pets at her disposal."

"It's good to be Queen… I'm still surprised you haven't attempted a coup against her. I mean, you are the oldest vampire in Louisiana… And you would make a much better King."

He smiled. "But I'm lazy…"

"Come on! Pam is lazy, you… Look at your work as Sheriff! Your area is the most profitable of all Louisiana! You bring to the queendom way more money than all four other areas and that includes New Orleans, the Mecca of Vampires!"

"Well, according to my father, I am lazy."

"Your father said that a thousand years ago, Eric. You were human and you didn't have all the experiences you have acquired today!"

"What was is that he said… 'You can't spend your whole life between a woman's tights'. I told him I could try. I became Sheriff for one reason and one reason only, Sookie. So I wouldn't have to answer to anybody."

"Still, you have to answer to the Queen in some ways, right?"

His smirk grew bigger.

"You know me well enough to know I don't give a shit about Sophie-Anne. She may be Queen of Louisiana, but that does not mean I respect her."

We talk some more, about my leaving Boston for the backwater town of Bon Temps, about business deals he was looking into. I finished my drink and yawned.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't think I would be this tired."

He sent a text quickly before getting up and offering me his hand.

"I'll drop you at the farmhouse."

"But… What about my rental? I…"

"How about you visit the car dealership tomorrow and get a new car? On me, of course."

I was too tired to argue. We exited the bar by the employee entrance and I started walking toward his Corvette. He stopped me before handing me his leather jacket.

"You're gonna need it."

He put it on my shoulders, circled my waist, sending me against his chest and we were up in the air. I must have fallen asleep 'cause I woke up the next morning, fully clothed, in my tiny single bed. On the bedside table was a handwritten note.

**Hope you had sweet dreams, min lilla älva.**  
**My day man scheduled an appointment for you at the Audi dealership in Shreveport at 2PM.**  
**Choose whatever you want, whatever the price.**  
**E**

Guess I was car shopping today.

TBC


	6. Chapter 5

**Author Note: **In honor of tonight's Season finale (let's hope for some Eric/Sookie action!) I'm giving you chapter 6! I worked like crazy (well not really, I was pretty inspired) to be able to post it today. Thank you to Bschoen515, Cotharach, Enecs, Ericsfae, ashmo2000, whitangel, Perfecta999, TheDrawer, uroboros85 and erin705 for their reviews. The pleasure I have to open my gmail account and see them! And the follow and favorite alert are awesome too!

I've created a pinterest page for this fic, you can find it at /jatergirl/dead-briefs/

As usual, your reviews are more than welcome. Enjoy, LaraK

Chapter 5

I found Gran pretty much the same way as yesterday, behind the stove making breakfast.

"Good morning, Sookie dear."

"Good morning, Gran. Did… Do you know how I ended up in my bed? I mean, were you awake when…"

"Was I awake when Eric brought you home, sleeping like a log?"

I nodded as I took a sip of my coffee.

"Yes, I was. And I had a pleasant chat with Eric afterward. He told me you are going car shopping today, so I called Jason earlier and asked him to take you to Shreveport."

"Oh, gosh… I have to get use to it; my vampire and my Gran are BFF!"

"YOUR vampire?"

I blushed. "Well, he did tell his staff that I was his, it is only right to say he is mine."

"Eat before it gets cold."

Before I even took a bit of the delicious breakfast, my cell phone started ringing. I excused myself and went to answer in the living room.

"Stackhouse?"

"Sookie? It's Patricia."

"Hi, Mrs. Kennedy!"

Patricia Kennedy had been our neighbor in Boston for like forever. She and her husband Alfred were living in the brownstones next to us and she used to babysat both Jason and I after our mother's death.

"I'm so sorry to call you this early… I'm not even sure what time it is in Louisiana."

"No problem, Mrs. Kennedy. There's only a one hour difference. Is there a problem? The house didn't burned down to the ground, I hope!"

"No, of course not! It's just that… The day you left for Louisiana, somebody showed up at your house. He said his name was Thomas Krasiki and that he was an old friend of the family… I was surprised he didn't know about Corbett's and that you had moved to Louisiana to live with your Grandmother… Well, I thought it was a little weird and it's been killing me for the past two days."

I thanked Mrs. Kennedy before going back to the kitchen.

"Gran, do we know any Thomas Krasiki?"

"Krasiki, you said? No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Mrs. Kennedy, our neighbor in Boston, called to tell me some guy went to the brownstones looking for us. But I'm not familiar with the name."

"Maybe he was a University friend of your dad."

I finished my breakfast and went upstairs to grab a shower. I was walking down the stairs when I 'felt' the truck from the furniture store coming down the driveway. I had completely forgotten about the delivery.

Luckily the delivery men took pity of two helpless women and took down my old furniture before putting the new one. In the end, all Gran and I had to do was stripped the old bed of its sheets. I would make a stop in Shreveport to get some King Size bedding. I gave the three guys a big tip and send them on their way. Looking at the old Grandfather clock I realized how late it was. As if on cue, Jason pulled in, wearing his day off attire, i.e. a pair of washed up jeans, a Harvard Law School T-Shirt and – guess what – a Harvard baseball cap.

"Ready to go car shopping, Sook?"

I grabbed my purse and we were on our way. Even though I grew up with a father with a love for car restoration, a brother who got a hard on whenever he saw a 4x4 and a vampire with an addiction to fast cars, I knew nothing about it. Having Jason with me sure helped a lot. We quickly established that a girly car wasn't what I was looking for. I wanted a stylish car – Audi were very stylish indeed, a comfortable interior, with lots of trunk load and with a good gas mileage. After a quick test drive I settled on a Daytona Grey Pearl Q7 full equip with a hefty price tag of $81,795 before taxes!

"You are lucky, Miss Stackhouse, we do have this car on stock in the color of your choice. The only thing is that it has the DVD player option that you didn't ask for… So the price will be a little…"

"I'll take it! What, I'm not the one paying for the car! My employer is paying for it and he said that money wasn't an issue…"

_"Employer my ass! More like sugar daddy. Really, what must she do to get an $80,000 car…"_

My 'Crazy Sookie' smile was back. Jason must have felt my discomfort at the man thoughts 'cause he quickly took over.

"You know what, Sook, I saw a Saab dealership not too far from here. I'm pretty sure Mr. Northman would be quite touch if you got a Swedish car instead…"

"You think? It will probably cost a little more, think he will mind?"

"Of course not! Especially if it's a Swedish car."

The car salesman started to sweat profusely.

"Mr. Northman, you said? As in Eric Northman? The vampire businessman?"

I nodded. "Yes, we're his lawyers. Since I had to relocate, he's offering to pay for my car."

_"Shit… If she tells the vamp I refused to sell her a car… I can't take the risk of angering such a powerful…"_

"You know what, I'm putting the DVD system for nothing! You take it as it is and…"

"At the same price? The $81,795 before taxes price you gave us?"

"Yes! Same price! And I'm adding 2 more years to the after-sales maintenance contract!"

I looked at Jason before nodding. And that's how I left the Shreveport Audi dealership with my brand new SUV and 7 years of auto maintenance. After a long stop at Bath, Bed and Beyond, we were hitting the roads towards Bon Temps. Since the catering option was sparse, we ended up in Merlotte's again. And unlike the day before, this time the parking lot was filled with cars.

"We can go somewhere else, if you want, Sook. I know this great Sushi place near…"

"It's okay, Jase. I better get used to them, you know. And I came yesterday and met the flamboyant Lafayette Reynolds."

"I told you he was as gay as a fairy!"

We were seated in Dawn's section this time, Arlene Fowler being nowhere in sight. We quickly ordered, while poor Dawn tried her best to get Jason's attention by twirling strands of her hair and biting her lower lips.

"Does she know what subtlety is?" I asked, after she brought our drinks.

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't even how who to spell it" answered my brother, taking a sip of his beer.

"Jason Stackhouse!"

"What? I know this type of girl, Sook. Brainless, pretty stupid and the only way they can attract someone is by using their arts and allurements."

I nearly choked on my Sweet tea.

"Jason Stackhouse quoting Jane Austen? Wow!"

"What?! I did take an English Literature class during my freshman year!"

"And the fact that Pride & Prejudice is a certain blond vampire's secret favourite novel has nothing to do with it?"

"Don't you dare bring my rela… my whatever-it-is I have with Pam into this! You got your own thing with Eric, anyway."

I was probably blushing by then.

"The difference between Eric and me and you and Pam is that we never did anything! Nada! He gave me his blood when I was a child! That's it. Of course there's a deep connection between us, but nothing more. I don't have hot sex with him behind everybody's back!"

"Stay out of my head, for God's sake!"

We were now whisper-shouting.

"How the hell do you want me to stay out of your head when you're broadcasting your thoughts so loud! They're so loud they're destroying my walls! But wait a minute, I thought Pam was in her lesbian phase?"

"She is… But three years ago, she wasn't in it yet. It's been over for a while, but we're still… you know… whenever we need someone to scratch an itch…"

I lowered my voice even more. "Have you… Have you had her blood?"

He nodded. "Once. Remember my car accident, you know, just after I moved to Shreveport. That's how I was able to bounce back quickly even though my car was totaled."

"And you've experimented the… the dreams?"

He grinned. "Yeah! And they were pretty hot! What about you? I know you were a kid when you had Eric's…"

"Well, they were totally innocent when I was younger, like walking through the meadows in Öland in the daytime… But they turned… well, you-know-what, when I was probably 16."

He frowned. "You're still having dreams? And you haven't had his blood since you were 8? That's crazy shit!"

"Must be the potentness of his blood… Pam is barely 150 and he's a thousand years old."

We were interrupted by the arrival of Hoyt Fortenberry and another man.

"Hey Mr. Stackhouse, Miss Stackhouse…"

"Please, Hoyt! Mr. Stackhouse was my father. You can call me Jason! My Gran and your Mama have known each other long enough so you don't have to call me Mister. Same goes for Sookie…"

The tall man blushed. "Speaking of Mama, I wanted to apologize for the other night. She was way out of line, making those comments 'bout you. She's just…"

_"She's always making comment 'bout Adele Stackhouse… 'Bout her new Caddy, the crew working on her house, that big blond guy who comes for Sunday dinner… She's jealous… Wished she had a son who was a big shot lawyer too… As if I'd be happy… I'm happy working the road crew…"_

"It's nothing, Hoyt" I said, trying to soothe him. "Gran tells me you're working on the road crew, right?"

He smiled. "Yeah. René here works with me."

The other man smiled. "René Lenier" he said with an awfully thick Cajun accent. "Your Gran babysit my girl Arlene's kids."

"Nice to meet you."

Not really, there was something creepy about the guy. Maybe it was the accent?

"We gonna let you enjoy your dinner" said Hoyt. "See you another time!"

I watched them leave for the pool table, frowning.

"You understood a word that René guy said?" asked Jason. "Cause I didn't! And I took French as a second language in school!"

We were interrupted by his cell phone.

"That's the Compton's estate lawyer! I've been trying to buy old Jessie Compton house for Eric. Would you mind if…"

"No, go ahead!"

He answered the call before stepping outside for some privacy. I looked around the bar, lowering my shields before putting them back up. Dawn came back with our order, setting the plates in front of me. When she didn't leave right away, I looked up to her.

"Can I do something for you?"

"I saw you last night. At Fangtasia."

"Yeah, I was there for a business meeting with my client."

She raised an eyebrow. "Didn't look like a business meeting to me… You looked quite cozy with him. Mixing business with pleasure, weren't you?"

I let out a gasp. "Eric Northman is my client. I'm his lawyer."

"No shame in admitting you're doing the boss, sweetheart."

I grabbed her wrist and looked deeply in her eyes. "I am not 'doing' my boss, you dumb ass bitch. I don't need to sleep with a man to get him to pay attention to me. Unlike some other girls, I'm not throwing myself at him and that's what he likes about me."

I let go of her just in time for Jason to come back to our booth.

"A problem, Sook?"

"I was just telling Dawn that we'll need Mayo for our fries."

The waitress took a deep breath before leaving us.

"So… Your call? Did you seal the deal?"

He sighed. "No… You'll never guess. They found an heir, but when I say 'heir' it's more like an ancestor. Seems like old Compton's great-grand-something is a vampire. He's claiming the house under the VRA… I'll have to talk to Eric about it. Unless you'd prefer…"

"No, it's your project. I still have to work on getting Merlotte to agree to sell his land…"

"If you want to talk to him, I saw him go through the employee entrance."

I thanked him and went toward Sam Merlotte's office. The door was ajar and I knocked.

"Come on in, Dawn…"

"It's not Dawn, Shifter" I answered, closing the door behind me.

The look on his face was priceless. Some sort of fear mixed with shame.

"I was waiting for your call, Shifter. You've been ignoring me. It's very bad to make a girl wait on you."

He gulped. "I… I haven't had time to…"

"There's a limit to my patience… I'm willing to offer you $100,000 more for the land. You'll never be able to get that much money for this property."

"What the hell does your 'client' wants to do with it?"

"My client is quite the philanthropist. Don't worry, he's not going to build a new restaurant or a mega complex next to your fine establishment. I'm giving you another 24 hours. After that I'm bringing out the heavy artillery. And you won't like it."

I could feel his fear when I left. I was having too much fun with him.

Jason and I finished our meal and I drove back to the farmhouse. It was getting late and Jason had a lot to do in the morning so he went directly back to his place in Shreveport. Gran was sitting on the porch, reading a book.

"That's one nice car you've got, my Sookie."

"Thanks, Gran! I think so too."

I frowned when I felt a void coming from the cemetery.

"Gran, were you waiting for some visit? Like the kind that doesn't go out during the daytime?"

"No… Eric and Pam are coming the night after tomorrow and Bubba is in the North. You know how he hates being in the South so near to his week."

Yeah, Bubba never stayed in the South, especially Tennessee, from mid-July to late August, not that I was blaming him. We only had to wait a couple of seconds before a man, not very tall, with dark brown hair, man bang and sideburns, appeared at the bottom of the steps. He was dressed in a polo and khaki pants with awful loafer.

"Good evening" he said in a familiar Southern accent.

"Good evening…"

"I thought I would introduce myself" he said. "My name is Bill Compton, I just took possession of the Compton estate across the cemetery."

Gran was still silent.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Compton. I'm Sookie Stackhouse and this is my Grandmother, Mrs. Adele Stackhouse."

"Nice to meet you… I'm very sorry for the lateness of my call. I can't really go out in the daytime…"

"Don't worry, young man, we're pretty used to late night caller" explained Gran.

It was always weird, hearing Gran call vampires young when most of them were probably way older than her.

"What my Grandmother is trying to say, Mr. Compton, is that we are used to vampires."

He took a step toward us and inhaled deeply. A weird look appeared on his face and I could tell he could smell the vampire scents lingering around us and the house.

"I didn't think people in my hometown would be so accepting of people with my… condition" he added.

"The Stackhouses are not common, Mr. Compton."

We were nothing but common. Gran's best friends were a 2000 years old former Gaul slave, a thousand years Viking, a former San Francisco Madam and the King of Rock N' Roll.

"Did you need something?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure you're not here to ask for a cup of sugar…"

He smiled and it creeped me out.

"Yes, in fact there's something you can help me with."

Gran took this as her cue to leave, saying she was going to bed. I was now alone with the Vampire Bill… What kind of name was that? Vampire Bill? I was so used to the awesomeness that was my three clients that I found this bland vampire… well pretty bland.

"My house needs some much needed improvement, but I haven't been back to Bon Temps since… well since before… before I caught the virus."

Oh my God! He was giving me the 'mainstreaming' explanation of vampirism. As if it was a virus that you caught and kept you from aging, forced you to drink blood and gave you an allergy to the sun!

"I was hoping you'd be willing to help me find someone who might help me with the works that needs to be done. Electrician, plumber, carpenter…"

"I'm pretty new to the area, you see. But I'll ask my Gran. She might know someone who'd be able to help you. She did have some renovation done on the house recently. How about I meet you tomorrow night, let's say 9PM? I have to conduct some business at this Bar in town, Merlotte's."

"Thank you."

He took my hand in his and softly kissed my knuckles. He kept holding it and looked me in the eyes.

"What are you?"

Oh my God. Was he trying to glamour me?

"I'm a lawyer. From Boston."

"A lawyer… Would you be willing to work for me?"

"Unfortunately for you, I'll have to decline. I'm on a retainer for a big corporation. But I'm still willing to help you. Let's meet tomorrow."

He agreed and, after a goodnight, left across the cemetery. I searched my purse for my cell and sent a text to Eric.

**A vampire named Bill Compton moved across the cemetery. ****  
****Tried to glamour me. ****  
****Should I be worry? ****  
****S **

He quickly answered.

**Just be careful. ****  
****I'll come see you tomorrow night. ****  
****Sweet dreams. ****  
****E ****  
****PS Can't wait to see your new ride. ****  
**  
I smiled. Tomorrow couldn't come sooner.

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 6

**Author Note: **Wow, what a rollercoaster this past week was! I don't know for you, but after watching the season finale, I suffered from a 48 hours deep depression. But our fandom is very strong! Do you know of many showrunner who had to release statement about their show cliffhanger because fans threatened to stop watching the show and cancel their subscription to the channel on which the show is on? Take that, Brian Buckner! You just got your first taste of the Team Eric's wrath!

So... Thank you all to those who read and reviewed the last chapter. And a special thanks to those who checked my One-Shot, Your Presence Still Lingers Here. I'm now giving you chapter 6 of Dead Briefs. I hope you like it, I had so much fun writting it. Check the story pinterest page at pinterest jatergirl / dead-briefs 

Don't forget to leave me a review! Luv, LaraK

**Chapter 6**

Gran and I spent the day in the kitchen making preserves. Strawberry, peach, pear, apple, marmalade and even lingonberry.

"Where do you want me to put them, Gran?"

"Put them in the box on the counter, sweetheart. Oh, but leave a jar of marmalade and a jar of lingonberry out, please."

"Want to give them to Jason?"

She smiled. "No, the marmalade is for Pamela, the lingonberry is for Eric. Pamela said she used to have marmalade every morning and Eric's favourite snack as a child was lingonberry."

I frowned. "But you do know they won't be able to eat it, right?"

"Of course, silly! I'm not daft. But Eric was here last Sunday and I had made bread… Said the smell reminded him of his home when he was a little boy. I thought that the smell of those preserves would bring them both good memories. Do you think I shouldn't have?"

I was in awe… My Gran was one of a kind.

"No, I think it's very thoughtful of you…"

"Oh and next time, I'm doing some banana one! Bubba loved bananas!"

There was a soft knock on the door and, without even taking my apron off, I went to answer it.

"Miss Stackhouse?" asked the man.

"Yes, that's me. And you are?"

"Bobby Burnham, Miss. I'm Mr. Northman's daytime assistant."

_"So this is the mysterious Miss Stackhouse? Not what I had in mind… But then, her grandmother is the most amazing woman…"_

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Burnham. As you know, I'm Sookie Stackhouse, Eric… hum, Mr. Northman's lawyer."

_"She's on first name basis with him?!"_

"What can I do for you, Mr. Burnham? Did Mr. Northman ask you to drop some paperwork for me?"

The man searched through his messenger bag and took a blue Tiffany's box.

"Miss Swynford De Beaufort asked me to bring you this. Have a nice day, Miss Stackhouse."

He went back to his Sedan and waved at me before driving away. I went back to the kitchen, examining the little box, curious about its content. Pam had a history of giving me outrageously pricey gifts, but she'd never bought me jewelry. No, most of my jewelries were either gifts from my dad or gifts from Eric's, like the charms bracelet he got me for my 9th birthday and the charms he got me each year after that…

"Who was it?"

"Mr. Burnham, Eric's daytime assistant. He brought me a gift from Pam."

I showed it to Gran, who smiled at the well-known little box.

"So? What is it?"

I opened it and let out a gasp at its content. It was a platinum necklace with an E pendant with little diamonds. A card had been tucked in it.

**I thought it was better than an Eric necklace. ****  
****You'll thank me tonight, Tinkerbell. ****  
****P**

"What a beautiful piece of jewelry! You'll have to wear it tonight, sweetheart."

"You… You don't think it's… I don't know, too much?"

Gran smiled before taking the delicate necklace and putting it on me.

"There. Perfect! And you did say he was YOUR vampire…"

I sighed. My words were coming back to bite me. I took off my apron and served myself a glass of Sweet Tea.

"So, what did you think of our new neighbor? Is he interesting?"

"You know, Gran… I've been spending so much time with Pam, Godric and Eric that it takes a lot to impress me. Bill Compton seemed like a very old fashion vampire… I get this vibe from him, like he's acting as if he was a Southern gent from the 19th century."

"Maybe is he, or most likely was, dear. I wonder if he's the William T. Compton with the empty grave, you know the soldier who never came back from the war?"

I didn't need to ask which war she was talking about. Gran was a member of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead, a Bon Temps club about the Civil War. She had a plethora of memorabilia in the attic.

"I'll have to ask him."

"Do ask him, dear."

She left for her gardening club, while I went to prepare myself for my meeting tonight. I searched the web for some companies in the area that offered home improvement and printed out their information. I took a long hot shower before choosing carefully what I was going to wear. I needed to be aggressive tonight. Sam Merlotte's had been a real pain in the ass by stalling the negotiation for the sale of the land. And I needed to look professional, no need to have Vampire Bill think of our meeting as some sort of date.

I choose a black pencil skirt suit with a black silk cami. The necklace looked amazing with it, nestling between my breasts. I put some black 4 inches pumps before being satisfied with the result.

The night was warm, so I decided to walk to Merlotte's. I know what you think, how can she walk that distance in heels? Well, Gran told me about a short cut through the wood and I'm used to walk through the brick streets of Boston.

Merlotte's was pack at full capacity when I arrived. I couldn't get a table so I went to the bar where Tara Thornton was mixing drinks and drafting beer.

"Good evening, Tara."

She looked at me suspiciously.

"Is Mr. Merlotte in tonight? I have an appointment."

"He hasn't left his office all day. Go ahead, I think you know the way."

I tried to stay out of her head, but she was a loud broadcaster tonight. She thought some pretty nasty about me, mainly about the way I was dressed.

I found Sam Merlotte again in his office, looking through the paperwork I had sent him by courier earlier today.

"Good evening, Shifter."

"Would you please… Don't call me that!"

"Why? That's what you are. And that's pretty much a double standard, you know. With the hateful thoughts you have regarding vampires. May I sit?"

He nodded, looking quite frightful.

"I see you received my courier. Did you have enough time to look through it?"

"Yes… But I'm… I'm not sure… It is a lot of money, but…"

I took a deep breath. "AIK is a well known company. Along the years they have acquired several properties across the world. Their projects are always the best. Just 10 years ago they bought an old mansion near Jackson Square, in San Francisco, that survived the 1906 Earthquake. Back in the day it was one of the many brothels of Barbary Coast. AIK completely restored the house to its former glory and it is now one of San Francisco best rated inn. I could tell you about so many projects. Ever heard of The Gaul Ambrosia? It's a well known wine produced in France, in a vineyard owned by AIK."

"Why would such a corporation be interest in bumfuck Bon Temps, Louisiana?"

"Can you keep a secret? You know the Sheriff of Area 5? Eric Northman?"

"I'm a Supe. I might not socialize with Fangers, but I do know who he is. Why?"

"He's my boss. And AIK is his."

Something changed in his eyes. A mixed of fear and anger.

"NO! I won't get involve in…"

"The way I see it you have two options. Option 1, you sign the papers, cash a huge check and we're done. Option 2, Mr. Northman is currently enjoying a nice evening with my Gran at our farmhouse. One phone call and he's in this office and by the time we are out, the land will be his and the amount of the check you will receive will be substantially less than our first offer."

_"He's with Adele Stackhouse? She… Her, a fangbanger? At her age?"_

"Did you just call my Gran, my respected grandmother, a FANGBANGER?"

I took my cell phone out of my purse.

"No! No… I… I'll sign the papers… I'll sign whatever you want! Please… Don't call him…"

I calmed down and threw him a pen. He was shaking as he signed his name on the dotted line.

"A registered check will be sent to you tomorrow morning. It was great doing business with you, Shifter."

One business done, one to go. I went back to the bar and ordered a Gin & Tonic, waiting for Bill Compton to show up. I looked around me and tried not to pry so much into the minds of the people surrounding me. After a while, I got impatient. It was already half past nine and it was clear that I was stood up. I paid my tab before going to the bathroom. The moment I locked my stall the door opened and the chattered of Merlotte's two waitresses filled the little room.

"I'm going back tonight, Arlene" said Dawn.

"To that Vamps' bar in Shreveport? Honey, you are playing with fire!"

The brunette let out a laugh.

"But it's so good to play with fire, Arlene!"

"No one respectable would dream to get caught going there!"

"If only you knew… You know Maudette Pickens, right? That trash working at the Grabbit Kwick? She's there almost every night! Have I told you about this big blond vampire that's always there? Oh God, he's sex on a stick! And he's good, like real good. Better than Jason Stackhouse!"

"You had sex with a vampire? And with Jason Stackhouse? No!"

"I had sex with lots of vampires, Arlene. And yes, I let them bite me. But that blond God… Unforgettable! And Jason is pretty perfect for a guy with a beating heart. Athletic, good looking and with a big bank account!"

That little skank! I couldn't believe it! I flushed the toilet and opened the stall, going straight to the sink.

"Good evening, Arlene, Dawn."

"Hi, Miss Stackhouse…" said Arlene, as red as a tomato.

"Oh, please, Arlene. Call me Sookie."

I washed my hands before turning to Dawn.

"If you plan on going to Fangtasia after work I have to warn you that Mr. Northman won't be there. My client is not at the bar tonight. If you plan to 'offer' yourself to him, here's a little piece of advice if you don't want him to reject you once more: take a shower. Mr. Northman doesn't like the smell of your other squeezes. Oh, and about Jason… You're not his type. You know the desperate kind who lies about who she sleeps with. Well, have a good evening, ladies."

I left them, not even bothering to put my shield back on as Dawn thought awful thing about me. I looked once more at my watch before deciding that I had waited long enough. Bill Compton had stood me up. Nobody had ever stood me up!

I made my way through the short cut, but stopped in my track. Something was wrong. I could feel a void not so far from me. Lowering my shields I picked up some thought.

_"We are going to make so much money out of that fanger's blood!"_

Drainers! I took my Taser Gun out of my purse and made my way quietly toward the thoughts. Bill Compton was lying on the dirt ground, bound by some cheap silver necklace and being drained by two rednecks. The man was looking at the little vial like Gollum with the ring while the woman was inserting a needle in the vampire's veins.

"You know that draining a vampire and selling V is a Federal offence punishable with at least 5 years of prison?"

"Who the fuck are you?" asked the man.

"The woman who's about to tase you!"

Everything happened quickly. I tased the man, who writhed in pain. The woman tried to jump on my back, but she fell victim of my Taser gun as well.

"You'll regret this, bitch!"

"Come on, Denise! Let's get the hell outa here!"

In a flash, well not really 'cause they were still stung by their close encounter with my Taser, they were gone. I looked at the vampire still on the ground and had to try hard not to laugh.

"Need help with those silver necklaces?"

He simply nodded and let out an exaggerated groan when I took the silver from him.

"Wasn't that bad, right? I guess this is why you stood me up?"

"They took me by surprise… Tackled me from behind."

I took the papers I had printed out earlier and handed them to him.

"Here, these are some of the contractors working in the area…"

"Thank you… Would you like to keep the vials of blood? You could make a lot of money out of them. Or you could drink them."

I laughed. "Do I have to remind you, Mr. Compton that I'm an attorney? Selling V is against the law and I'm not a drug addict."

There was an awkward silence.

"Aren't you afraid to be with a hungry, nearly drained vampire?"

"Not at all. First, you weren't nearly drained. Second, I still have my Taser. While it's not silver or a stake, it still can incapacitate you."

He looked at me curiously. It was as if he was trying to see through my soul. Or maybe he was trying to glamour me.

"I would be more than happy to escort you back home, if you'd like. The drainers might come back…"

"Didn't you just tell me you were nearly drained? Would you even be able to defend poor little me if the two rednecks came back?"

He looked puzzled. "I'm… I was simply… I was raised not to let a young lady venture through the woods alone."

"Aren't you a perfect gentleman? For your information I'm not a delicate Southern Belle that needs to be protected. But… You can escort me home. After all we are going in the same direction."

We were walking through the paths toward the farmhouse when my cell phone biped, alerting me of a text message.

**P and I are at the farmhouse with A and J. ****  
****You didn't tell me you were meeting Compton. ****  
****Come back soon. ****  
****E ****  
**  
I smiled.

"Something funny?"

"What? Oh, my clients are at the farmhouse. Want to come for a drink? We have Tru Blood and I'm pretty sure we still have a bottle or two of Royalty Blend."

"You know about Royalty Blend?" he asked in disbelieved.

"I told you last night that we, Stackhouse, were used to vampires. My law firm is specialized in vampires. I've known about you all since I was a little girl."

We arrived at the farmhouse, all lights up, with Gran's Caddy, Jason's Escalade, my Audi and Pam's stylish mini-van parked in the driveway.

"Won't you please come in, Mr. Compton?"

Gran, Jason, Pam, in a beautiful pink dress, and Eric, dapper in a black suit with a black open collar shirt, were all sitting in the living room, chatting softly. The moment Compton saw the two vampires he nearly lost all little color he had in his face.

"Sookie, dear, look who came to visit me!" said Gran, squeezing Eric's hand.

"Good evening, Sookie. Adele told us you were meeting your new neighbor tonight…"

"Yes, I was. Bill Compton, I'd like to introduce you to my clients, Eric Northman and Pamela Swynford De Beaufort, and my brother, Jason Stackhouse. Jason is also a lawyer."

"No need to introduce us, Sookie" said Pam. "Eric and I are already acquainted with Mr. Compton."

"Yes, a long time ago" added Eric. "By the way, how is Lorena, Bill?"

The dark haired vampire gulped. "My maker released me nearly 70 years ago. I haven't seen her since."

I could tell that there was much more to the story, but kept quiet. Gran took over her duty as hostess and offered our guest a drink.

"I have Tru Blood, of course, oh and I have your favourite, Eric dear, Royalty Blend!"

The blond vampire smiled. "You are too nice, Adele."

"How many times will I have to tell you, Eric? Call me Gran!"

I frowned. These two were up to something.

"Mr. Compton? Pamela?"

"I'm good, Gran. But if you could do some tea and bring the pot here, I would love it."

"Mr. Compton? A glass of Royalty Blend or a Tru Blood?"

Compton was still stunned. "A Tru Blood will be perfect."

Jason offered to help Gran with the drink and I took a seat next to Eric. He quickly took my hand in his and dropped a soft kiss on my knuckles.

"How did it go with the Shifter, love?"

Love? I was used to min lilla – my little one, min lilla älva – my little fairy and the occasional min älskling – my darling, but love? That was a new one. I decided to play the game.

"Very well, min kärleksfulla Viking. The land is yours."

Our exchange clearly made Compton uncomfortable, while Pam was beaming like a proud mama. Gran and Jason soon came back with the drinks and the interrogation started.

"Mr. Compton, I have to ask you… You wouldn't happen to be the William T. Compton? The one who fought in the War?"

"If you mean the Civil War, Mrs. Stackhouse, then yes, I am this William T. Compton."

"It's my lucky day, then! I have so many questions… If you don't mind answering them, of course."

"Gran is a history buff, Mr. Compton" explained Jason. "She'd probably be able to teach college level history class if she wanted."

"Jason is exaggerating. I love history. But I do have a preference for the Civil War era."

"Gran was so disappointed that I wasn't born for it and that Eric was in Scotland during the whole thing."

"I wasn't disappointed, Pamela! You were extremely resourceful about late Victorian England and you were in San Francisco before the earthquake! And Eric is a thousand years old! He has seen and experienced so many things!"

"Gran is a member of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead. It's a sort of club, mainly senior citizen of Bon Temps with roots to Confederate soldiers" I said.

"The glorious dead? There is nothing glorious about dying in a war."

"I think the name of the club refers to the glorious cause, am I right, Gran?"

"You are totally right, Eric dear. Would you agree to come and talk at one of our meeting? We would, of course, accommodate your schedule."

"It will be a pleasure, Mrs. Stackhouse."

Gran kept asking Compton questions about Antebellum Bon Temps. Looking at the clock, she realized how late it was.

"An old lady like me needs her beauty sleep, so I'll have to tell y'allgoodnight."

She kissed Jason, Pam, Eric and I goodnight before leaving for her room. Pam was looking at her cell phone, frowning.

"Long Shadow needs me at the bar… I'm going back to Shreveport."

"Go ahead, Pam. I'll fly home."

Jason finished his beer before getting off the couch.

"How about I drive back to Shreveport with you, Pammy? It wouldn't look good if a lawyer got arrested for DUI…"

It was soon decided that Pam and Jason would drive back to Shreveport in Pam's mini-van – no way in hell Eric would be caught driving a pink mini-van! A couple of minutes after my brother and his one-time lover left I let out a big yawned.

"Tired, min älskling?" asked Eric, softly stroking my hair.

I nodded, blushing.

"We better call it a night, right Compton?"

The dark haired vampire, who was intensely looking at us, didn't answered.

"I'm sorry… I didn't quite…"

"I said we better call it a night, Compton. Min älskling Sookie needs her sleep if she wishes to be able to work tomorrow morning."

They both got up and went outside. I said my goodnight before going to the dining room. The window was open and I had a clear view of the porch. The differences between Compton and Eric was so clear, and it went beyond the height difference.

"Those Stackhouses are quite something" said Bill. "I have never seen humans being so open to vampires."

"The Stackhouses are exceptional, Compton. And they are under my formal protection."

"You've got nothing to worry, Northman. I came back to Bon Temps to mainstream."

Eric let out a laugh.

"But that Sookie… She's quite something. Not the Southern Belle I would have expected. But still, very sweet… beautiful… virgin…"

Eric grabbed the other vampire by the collar and held him on one of the pillar, fang down.

"Let me make something clear, Compton: Sookie is MINE!"

**TBC**

**Min kärleksfulla Viking**: My loving Viking


	8. Chapter 7

**Author note: I was afraid I wouldn't be able to post this chapter today! I had my first training for the 10K run for next year Two Shores Marathon (Marathon des Deux Rives) that's held in late August in my hometown of Quebec City. I'm aching and so tired right now! But there was no way I was going to let you all wait for the next installment! So here's chapter 7!**

**I am currently facing some sort of dilemma and I'd really like your help. I'm trying to stay true to the series, even though I quite changed the characters (especially Sookie and Jason), but I'm still not so sure about Gran. I have these two possibilities: one where we follow the series and she dies, one where she lives. Honestly either one of those scenario is ok with me, but I'd like to have your input, dear reader. So PM me about it. I'd like to know what you'd prefer.**

**So I hope you like this new chapter. Let me know what you think by leaving a review. Luv, LaraK**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Let me make something clear, Compton: Sookie is MINE!"

I shivered at the sound of Eric's angry voice.

"Yours? She smells like you, but not enough for you to have given her your blood…"

Eric's grip tightened around Compton's neck. I was nearly afraid he would rip his head off. Not that it would cause me great pain, but to clean that type of mess?

"Next time you're close enough, Compton, take a good sniff. My blood is in her. It has been for years."

"That doesn't make your claim on her…"

"On second thought, don't come close her, Compton. How long has it been since you entered my area?"

"I've arrived yesterday, why?"

"Yesterday… And you still haven't reported to the Sheriff? I would have thought that after years spent in Sophie-Anne's court you would be aware of simple protocol. I should throw you out of my Area."

The dark haired vampire smirked.

"I was sent by the Queen, Northman! I'm the new Investigator for Area 5."

An even bigger smirk appeared on Eric's face.

"Then it makes it even easier. I'll be able to keep a closer look on you. I expect you tomorrow night at Fangtasia, Mr. Investigator."

He let go of his hold on Compton, sending him down the steps.

"Compton… My warning about Sookie still stands. Stay away from her."

"And what if she's the one who can't stay away from me?"

The arrogance of that man! Eric simply smiled.

"You are overestimating yourself, Compton. You are not Sookie's type."

"Is the great Viking having feelings for an insignificant human?"

"Sookie Stackhouse is a lot of thing, but insignificant? No."

Compton let out a snort before zipping at vamp speed to his decrepit house. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was exhilarating to have someone protect me like this. I knew what a big deal it was for Eric to so openly admit he had feelings for me. But then, he didn't really admit it, more like an admission by omission.

"The coast is clear, min älskling" he said. "You can come out."

I went out on the porch, biting my lower lips, not sure about what was going to happen.

"You heard everything?"

I nodded, not trusting my own voice. He took my hand and we sat on the swing. When I looked into his eyes I saw the same kindness, the same care he had shown me all those years ago when he had saved me from death.

"I made a promise to your father, my dear friend, when he entrusted you to me. That I would treat you like the precious treasure you were. I will never back down on that promise, min älskling. Even if, by doing so, I have to meet my True Death."

"Don't! Don't you dare say such a thing! I would rather drive a stake to my own heart if you were to truly die because of me."

His big hand softly stroked the side of my face and he softly pressed a kiss to my forehead. But that wasn't what I wanted, what I needed. I grabbed the back of his head and attacked his lips in a very aggressive way. At first he tried to resist me, but I guess lust got over him as his fangs came down and he finally responded to my kiss.

My first kiss. And it was to my Viking. I switch position, lying down on the swing, but he quickly released my lips.

"No… I don't want you to do anything you would regret later."

I smiled shyly, caressing his long blond hair.

"I could never regret this…"

His blue eyes were filled with something I had only seen when he was experiencing bloodlust.

"Det kommer att finnas en tid och en plats för dig att bli min älskare." (There will be a time and a place for you to become my lover.)

He kissed me one last time.

"We'll talk more tomorrow night."

He vamped to Jason's car and in a matter of seconds he was gone. He was gone and I was now alone. Alone to ponder on what had happened. What had gotten into me? How could I risk throwing more than 20 years of friendship?

I barely slept that night. The taste of Eric's lips was still lingering on mines and the long list of what ifs was making it impossible for me to find solace in Morpheus' arms.

I woke up to a soft knock on my bedroom's door. Slowly opening my eyes I smiled at Gran, a steamy cup of coffee in her hand.

"Long night, sweetie?"

I nodded, still half asleep. She sat next to me and stroked my hair while I sipped my coffee.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Did I really want to talk about it? And with my Gran, of all people?

"I don't know, Gran… I… I don't…"

"Who's causing your tears, my Sookie? Not Eric, I hope."

"No… Yes… No, they're my own fault. I… I think I…"

She looked in my eyes and kissed my forehead.

"You think you love him, don't you?"

How could she read me so well? Wasn't I supposed to be the telepath in this family?

"I think I do… But he can't love me! Care about me, yeah. But truly love me? How could he? I'll forever be Corbett's daughter for him. He may lust after me, that wouldn't surprise me knowing him, but love…"

"I think you underestimate Eric, sweetie. Why couldn't he love you?"

I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with my own grandmother.

"He's known me ever since I was a little girl, Gran."

"Pamela has known Jason ever since he was a little boy as well, but that didn't stop her from taking him as a lover."

"You know about that?!"

She smiled. "There's only so little things I don't know about my grandchildren, my Sookie. I've known about your feelings for Eric for a while, you know. And those feelings predate your ingestion of his blood."

"Yes, I had his blood, but only to save my life!"

"Did your father ever tell you how you came to have to take his blood?"

I nodded. "I was sick and the doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. Daddy asked Eric to give me his blood to heal me."

Gran let out a sigh. "You were sick, yes, and the doctor didn't know what you had. But your father didn't ask Eric for his blood. He offered it. In fact, both Godric and Pamela offered their blood to you, but you rejected it almost immediately. Godric had never seen a human reject vampire blood that violently. They thought at first that his blood was too potent, but you also react the same way to Pamela's. But when Eric gave you his blood…"

"It saved me."

She nodded. "They did some test, later when you were safe. They again tried to give you their blood, but you again rejected it, except Eric's. You've always had a connection to him, am I right?"

"Daddy said I used to fall asleep in his arms… That he was my bubble… But that still doesn't explain why I could take his blood, but not Godric's or Pam's. Is it because I'm part-fae?"

"I don't think so, sweetie. Albeit he doesn't have the same gift as you, Jason is also part fae and he never had a problem with either Pamela's or Godric's blood."

"Are you trying to say that Eric and I are…"

"I don't know what you and Eric are… What I do know is that from the first moment of you meet him, there was something magical between the two of you. What's between you goes beyond the blood bond. It's as if the two of you are… fated. As if he spent a thousand years on this Earth just waiting for you to come along."

I let out a laugh. Fated? Me and Eric? I might believe in fairies, daemons, weres and vampires, but there was some limit to what I could swallow.

"Now… Finish your coffee, sweetheart, and get dressed. I called a special meeting of the DGD to prepare for Mr. Compton's presentation. The other ladies are meeting us at Merlotte's."

Merlotte's again… I was going to have to take a subscription to this Bar & Grill. Did they have those fidelity program cards that you get stamped every time you go there? I looked through my closet and settled for a white tank top, a black pair of skinny jeans and a soft beige cardigan. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, not something I normally do - I tend to prefer sophisticated buns and twists. A touch of foundation and gloss later, I was ready.

Gran was waiting by her Caddy, dressed in her Sunday's best.

"I have to tell you, sweetheart, Maxine Fortenberry is going to be there…"

"Don't worry, Gran. I'll try not to listen to her."

I only lowered my shields upon our entrance at the Bar & Grill and put them back on almost immediately. The thoughts of Mrs. Fortenberry weren't very nice. I was supposedly overdressed and was trying to show them how much better than them I was.

"Ladies, you remember my granddaughter, Sookie."

The five elderly ladies accompanying Mrs. Fortenberry acknowledged me with several hellos and old stories about when I was a little girl and I was visiting Gran.

"Have you heard about that poor girl?" asked Mrs. Miller.

"Yes… What a shame! So young and such a tragic fate!"

Gran and I both frowned.

"Haven't you head, Adele?" asked Maxine Fortenberry

"Heard what, Maxine?"

"About that poor Maudette Pickens, of course!" said Mrs. Norris, who I learned was the mayor's wife.

"Maudette Pickens? The girl from the Grabbit Kwick? What happened to her?"

Mrs. Belanger and Mrs. Hebert both got teary eyes.

"The poor girl was found murdered in her own house!"

Maudette Pickens… Where had I heard that name? Oh yes, last night. According to Dawn she was a regular at Fangtasia. I wonder if…

"Caroline Bellefleur said Andy was called early this morning" explained Mrs. Rochon. "The poor thing was strangled!"

"And she had… bite marks!" whispered Mrs. Belanger.

"Bite marks?" I asked. "Like mosquito bites?"

"No… Apparently, poor Maudette was… what is it they call them? Vampbanger?"

"That's not the word, Jeannine Belanger!" exclaimed Mrs. Fortenberry. "She was a fangbanger!"

She said the word as if she was saying the name of the devil. Gran cringed at it and I just rolled my eyes.

"So she was killed by a vampire?" asked Mrs. Norris.

I sighed.

"Well, she was clearly no angel and she was associating with these… these things! I wouldn't surprise me if she had been."

That was it for me.

"Mrs. Rochon, you said she was strangled, right?"

The little old lady nodded, while sipping her cup of tea.

"Well then it sure wasn't a vampire who killed her!"

Mrs. Fortenberry looked at me as if I had grown a second head.

"And how would you know that, young lady?"

I smiled. "If a vampire had killed her she would have been drained, not strangled. If you had the most amazing meal in front of you, Mrs. Fortenberry, and you could eat it all… Would you let it waste and end up in the garbage?"

The ladies chuckled and, dropping my walls a little, many thought that there was no way Maxine Fortenberry would let food go wasting. Apparently she was quite the glutton.

Gran got the meeting back to order and it allowed me to see her at her best. She was majestic. She explained about Compton and how he was THE William T. Compton who had fought in the War. She told them that he had agreed to come and talk to the club and that she was hoping to make some sort of event about it. The ladies were at first reluctant. They were clearly afraid. At first his vampiric state was a total deal breaker for the ladies, but Gran told them that even though he was now a vampire, he had been a citizen of Bon Temps once. That he came from one of the founding families of the city and that he had decided to come back here. She finally got them to agree to the idea. As she said, it's not every day that you get to have a firsthand account of the Civil War by a veteran.

The meeting ended with Gran promising to talk to Compton to settle a date for his speech and with the other ladies agreeing to let everybody know about it. They all left for Mrs. Fortenberry where they would plan the menu for the event. We were getting ready to split up in the parking lot when Mrs. Hebert approached me, asking me about my work.

"In my days we would have never dreamed of seeing such a young lady being a lawyer! Your grandmother is so proud of you and that brother of yours!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Hebert. I'm doing my best to make her proud."

"And she said you have your own firm, too! What an accomplishment!" added Mrs. Rochon.

I dropped my shields a little and realized that both women were sincere in their praises. Mrs. Hebert had been a nurse before marrying and had dreamed about becoming a doctor, but in those days a female doctor in Louisiana wasn't very common.

"And you are working for businessmen in Shreveport, right?" asked Mrs. Belanger.

I nodded. "Our firm only has 3 clients. Jason is mainly in charge of the one in Dallas, while I'm taking care of the two in Shreveport. In fact, they have been with the firm ever since its foundation."

"They were your father's client as well?"

"Yes, but the firm dates back to… 1476 if I'm not wrong."

Their reactions were priceless!

"The firm was first started as a private bank, in Italy. Over the year it changed from a bank to a law firm. My father took over after he finished law school."

"So, their business is some sort of… family business?"

"You could say that, Mrs. Miller."

Gran smiled. "Their clients are vampires, Aubrey."

"Vampires?!"

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Aren't they dangerous?"

"Really, vampires?!"

"How can you work for these monsters?" finally said Mrs. Fortenberry. "How can you be a Christian, Adele Stackhouse, and allow your flesh and blood to work for those monsters?"

"And you call yourself a Christian, Maxine Fortenberry? How can you make judgment on people you never met?"

"People? They're not people, Adele! They're vampires! Bloodsuckers!"

"And you are a bigot! These so-called bloodsuckers are honourable, loyal people. Over the years they have taken care of my grandchildren. You have no rights to say bad things about them!"

Surprisingly the five other ladies took my Gran's side against Mrs. Fortenberry. In the end, Gran and her friends left for the mayor's house, leaving Maxine Fortenberry alone in the parking lot.

"You better watch out, young lady. One day you will regret your association with these soulless demons."

I rolled my eyes and made my way toward the farmhouse. The sun was getting ready to set and I needed to call Eric. He said we'd talk more tonight, but I wasn't sure I wanted this conversation to be face to face. I didn't know if I could ever face him again…

I walked around the house like a zombie, preparing my dinner and watching TV. Once the sun had finally set I took my cell phone and called him.

"Good evening, min älskling. "

I took a deep breath.

"Good evening, Eric."

There was a long silence. I hadn't thought about what I was going to tell him.

"Sookie? You're still there?"

I walked to the porch and sat on the swing. Not a good idea. A walk around the house was a better idea.

"Yeah… I'm… How was your day? I mean… The rest of your night yesterday and the beginning of your evening?"

He laughed. "Good. I did some paperwork, dealt with Area disputes. Are you alright?"

Was I? Not really.

"Yeah… I… I forgot to tell you… Last night… I kinda saved Compton from two drainers."

"What?! When? Before or after I left you?"

"Before… It really was nothing. They tackled him from behind and held him up with cheap silver necklace."

"You should have told me! Compton should have told me!"

"Hey, don't worry! I tased them and I'm pretty sure they won't come back."

"Drainers are dangerous, min lilla."

"I know… Can we… can we talk about something else?"

Like, can we talk about last night? Did I really want to talk about last night?

"What do you want to talk about, min lilla?"

I smiled. "Why did you call me 'love' last night, when we were with Compton? You've never called me that before and… Was it all an act? Was it all for Compton?"

He took a deep breath. "Pam would be delighted if she was here. She's been ready this 'Dear Abby' column in the paper…"

"You're not at the bar?"

"No, I'm still at home. I hadn't planned on being on display tonight. I was hoping to stop by Bon Temps…"

"Ah…"

"To be honest with you, min lilla, it was all for Compton… at first. But the moment the word escaped my lips I realized that I truly meant it."

As Gran would say: Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea!

"I'm not good with dealing with my own feelings, Sookie…"

Something was moving near the trees. I walked toward it, curious.

"Sookie, you're still there?"

"Sorry, there's something in the…"

I never finished my phrase. I was thrown to the ground and hit in the side. And hit and hit and hit again. I was still holding the cell in my hand and I could hear Eric nearly screaming. Another blow to my face… Blood, so much blood. I was grabbed by the hair… A kick to my jaw. It was broken. A kick to my chest. I could barely breathe. The two shadows were now hovering above me, taunting me. Another kick to my face. I don't know how much time had passed, but I knew that I was dying.

He appeared out of nowhere, throwing my attackers to the ground. I heard the horrible sound of necks breaking and it was over. But the pain wasn't over. He swept me in his arms, softly putting my head on his laps, bit his wrist and brought it to my lips.

"Drink Sookeh!"

Sookeh? What…

"Unless you want to commit a blood offense, Compton, I would suggest you keep that wrist away from her mouth."

My Viking! My Viking had come for me.

"She's dying!"

"And I'll heal her! Now go back to your decrepit house before I stake you!"

Eric brought his wrist to my mouth and I gulped several mouthful of his sweet blood. I could already feel its magic healing me.

"Drink, min älskare (my lover)."

He grabbed his own phone, still holding me as if I was the most precious thing in the world

"Pam, don't ask any question. There are two bodies lying on the Stackhouses' yard. I need you to come and clean it out for me…. Then bring him with you! And go pick up Adele, wherever she is, but don't bring her back… I'll tell you more later... Yes, she's healing now, but she was badly hurt. I'll stay with her and rest in the cubby."

In a flash we were down in his cubby. The wound on his wrist had closed, so he brought it to his fang, opening it again, before giving it back to me.

"I'm here, min älskare. Drink…"

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 8

**Author Note: I'm so, so, so sorry for the delay! My best friend got married over the weekend and the week leading to it has been crazy! I had no time to write anything. But I couldn't let you down, so I'm now giving you chapter 8 of _Dead Briefs._ Thank you to everybody who reviewed, to all those who follow this fic. Your support means so much to me. ****Thank you to those who answered my Gran question in the last chapter. I've come up with something and I hope you'll like it.**

**Check out the Pinterest page for the fic at /jatergirl/deadbriefs (or check my profile, the complete adress is there). Oh and don't forget to leave a review ;) Luv, LaraK**

**Chapter 8**

Being a thousand years old meant I could wake from my day rest way before sunset. Since my primary house was completely light tight, I could go around and deal with emails and paperworks. It was something I liked about this house. I wasn't restricted to my resting place and could enjoy the many amenities I had put in it.

But tonight I cursed the fact that I was up 2 hours before sunset. Sookie and I needed to talk. If I was completely honest with myself, her actions the previous night had surprised me. And my own actions had surprised me even more. For the first time in my long life I had shown restraint. If she had been any other women I would have probably fucked her on that swing, despite the fact that her grandmother was sleeping inside the house, despite the fact that Compton was probably standing across the cemetery. But she wasn't any women. She was Sookie. Sookie who I had known since she was a child…

Godric and Pam had both warned me about it. To bond with a child, to watch her grew up... For a very long time I only saw her as 'little Sookie', my lawyer's daughter, the little girl I had saved. She must have been 17 when I first realized she wasn't 'little Sookie' anymore. She was a beautiful young woman, the type of woman I seemed to favor. The blood bond we shared didn't help either.

The sound of the light tight curtain system going up got me out of my thoughts. I finished reading my day man email, sending him his instructions for tomorrow. An hour had now passed since sunset. As if on cue, my cell phone rang. I didn't need to check the caller ID to know who was calling.

"Good evening, min älskling. "

I could hear her take a deep breath.

"Good evening, Eric."

A long silence followed her greeting.

"Sookie? You're still there?"

"Yeah… I'm… How was your day? I mean… The rest of your night yesterday and the beginning of your evening?"

I laughed. She seemed nervous.

"Good. I did some paperwork, dealt with Area disputes. Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I… I forgot to tell you… Last night… I kinda saved Compton from two drainers."

I saw red. Drainers? How could she have forgotten to tell me that?

"What?! When? Before or after I left you?"

"Before… It really was nothing. They tackled him from behind and held him up with cheap silver necklace."

"You should have told me! Compton should have told me!"

I tried my best not to sound too rash, but I was sure she could hear the anger in my voice.

"Hey, don't worry! I tased them and I'm pretty sure they won't come back."

"Drainers are dangerous, min lilla" I said softly.

"I know… Can we… can we talk about something else?"

I could feel the hesitation in her voice, the insecurity. This wasn't her. She was always so sure of herself, always prepared for action.

"What do you want to talk about, min lilla?"

"Why did you call me 'love' last night, when we were with Compton? You've never called me that before and… Was it all an act? Was it all for Compton?"

And there she was, my Sookie was back. Wait, my Sookie? I took a deep breath, this wasn't how I had imagined this conversation going. I had planned to have this conversation face-to-face, not on the phone. While she had the world best poker face with everybody else, with me it was quite the opposite. Sookie couldn't lie to me to save her life.

"Pam would be delighted if she was here. She's been ready this 'Dear Abby' column in the paper…"

"You're not at the bar?"

She sounded surprised.

"No, I'm still at home. I hadn't planned on being on display tonight. I was hoping to stop by Bon Temps…"

"Ah…"

"To be honest with you, min lilla, it was all for Compton… at first. But the moment the word escaped my lips I realized that I truly meant it."

What was the saying? The cat was out of the bag? There was no going back now.

"I'm not good with dealing with my own feelings, Sookie…"

I waited for her answer, but it never came. Had I made her uncomfortable with my declaration?

"Sookie, you're still there?"

"Sorry, there's something in the…"

There was a muffled sound, as if her phone fell to the ground. Then I felt it. The pain, the excruciating pain.

"Sookie! Sookie!"

Without a second to spare, I went to the front door and took to the sky. It was torture. I could have closed the bond, but the pain I was receiving was so strong I was afraid she would die…

I made the flight between my Shreveport suburb to Bon Temps in barely 5 minutes – a record – in time to see my Sookie, broken and bloodied, being held in Compton's laps.

"Drink Sookeh!"

His bloody wrist was close to her mouth. The fool! He had no idea that even if he was to give her his blood it would do her no good. She would reject it almost immediately.

"Unless you want to commit a blood offense, Compton, I would suggest you keep that wrist away from her mouth."

The dark haired vampire stopped, surprised to find me there.

"She's dying!"

"And I'll heal her! Now go back to your decrepit house before I stake you!"

My fangs pierced the skin of my wrist and I quickly put it to her mouth.

"Drink, min älskare (my lover)."

With dexterity, I grabbed my phone and called my childe.

"Pam, don't ask any question. There are two bodies lying on the Stackhouses' yard. I need you to come and clean it out for me"

"What the fuck? I'm currently going over business with Jason, if you know what I mean. I can't just…"

" Then bring him with you! And go pick up Adele, wherever she is, but don't bring her back…"

"Are you going to tell me what the fuck happened?"

"I'll tell you more later..."

"Is Sookie at least okay?"

"Yes, she's healing now, but she was badly hurt. I'll stay with her and rest in the cubby."

I hung up and vamped to the cubby. When Adele had first brought the idea of a cubby instead of light tightening one of the upstairs spare bedrooms, I had thought of a very simple sparse room. But that wasn't what Adele had in mind. She wanted me to have my own suite. Apparently the old farmhouse bathrooms weren't built for gigantic Viking. I'm pretty sure she plotted with the contractor because as soon as I told her an ensuite bathroom wasn't necessary, Herveaux was telling me that building a bigger cubby would greatly help to support the whole house structure. And thus the cubby ended up being as big as half of the first floor. It had a closed bedroom, a sort of living area that could serve as an office with a comfortable couch and giant TV and a pretty big bathroom with a whirlpool bath and huge glass shower.

I softly laid Sookie on the bed and reopen my wrist.

"I'm here, min älskare. Drink…"

Slowly the wounds that marred her face disappeared, I could feel the internal bleedings healing, but she still had quite a big gash on her forehead. I licked it cleaned and moaned at the sweet taste. She still tasted as sweet as ever.

"Eric?"

"Hush, min älskare, you've got to keep your strength."

The wound closed and one more dose of my blood helped the scar to completely vanish.

She was covered in her own blood. I vamped to the bathroom, filled the huge tub before going back to the bedroom. She was drifting into unconsciousness and I knew I needed to keep her awake a little while until everything was healed.

"Come, min älskare, I drew you a bath."

I undressed her and it took everything not to be aroused by the sight of her beautiful body. She was smiling when I gently dropped her in the hot water. I slowly washed her hair, lathering the luxurious shampoo in her long golden locks. I then rinsed her and wrapped her in one of the large towel.

"Thank you" she whispered.

I unplugged the bath and took her back to the bed. I tucked her in, just like I did all those years ago, and she was asleep, or so I thought.

"Stay" she whispered.

I lay down next to her, hoping she would stay on her side of the bed, but the little minx quickly snuggled next to me. Without thinking, I was soon spooning her and thought of a not so distant past when everything was much more innocent.

* * *

_When I had first agreed to take Sookie to my homeland, I hadn't thought about anything but keeping her safe and healing her. Fortunately, both my maker and my childe were there to get me what I would need to care for a little girl. While I was dealing with the Queen and making sure Pam wouldn't have any problem as acting-Sheriff of Area 5, my child went and bought all the items Sookie would need and my maker hired both a housekeeper/nanny to take care of the little one during the daytime and to serve as a donor for me. _

_We arrived in Stockholm just after sundown and drove the 5 hours to my farmhouse in Öland. The land at been the one where my family's homestead once stood. All that was left of it now was a series of stones, marking the place where the great hall was. I had the farmhouse build in the 19th century and even though I didn't spend much time there – Pam saying to who ever wanted to hear that it was a windy shithole – I had improved it along the years. It had all the modern amenities and comfort that would suit humans. _

_Sookie was fast asleep when we arrived, but she quickly awoke when I took her out of her car seat – a child needs a car seat, had said Pam, especially if you're the one driving, Eric. Adrianna, the donor/housekeeper/nanny, was already there, waiting for us. She was in her mid-twenties, or so I thought, tall and dark haired. After tucking Sookie in her bedroom and giving her some of my blood, I took the time to glamour the young woman. I had to make sure she wouldn't blab to the whole village about me. I could see she was finding me attractive, so after a quick glamour to have her let me feed on her, I took her to one of the empty bedroom and fucked her and fed from her. _

_The next couple of days were pretty much the same. Sookie would spend the day with Adrianna, doing whatever 8 years old did, then I would wake up from my day rest, walk around the land with her before giving her my blood and tucking her for the night. Then I would take Adrianna to her bed for a quick feed and fuck. _

_About a week after our arrival in Sweden, Sookie and I were sitting by the fjord, the little girl wrapped in a blanket. The view hadn't changed in a thousand years, it was still has peaceful. _

"_Why do you sleep during the day?" asked Sookie, breaking the silence. _

_THE question… I knew that one day I would need to answer it, but I hadn't planned on her asking it so soon. _

"_Well… You see I have an allergy to the sun. If I go out in the daylight, I burn." _

"_Like when I get sunburn?" she asked. _

_She was too cute. I nodded and tighten my arms around her tiny waist. _

"_Why don't you wear sunscreen, then? That's what daddy put on me so I don't get sunburn." _

_I couldn't help but laugh. _

"_Why are you laughing?" she asked, very serious. _

"_I'm laughing because you are funny. Can you keep a secret, min lilla?" _

"_Of course I can! I kept Jason's secret! I never told anybody that he was the one who broke the lamp in the living room… Oops!" She got teary and I've never been good with crying women. "I'm so sorry! I'm not a good girl! I can't keep a secret and now you won't tell me yours!" _

"_Hush, min lilla. Dry those tears, it's nothing. I know you're a good girl and you won't tell my secret. But you have to promise not to tell anyone, not Adrianna or anybody else?" _

"_Not even daddy, Pammy and Godric?" _

_I smiled and kissed her forehead. _

"_Your father, Pam and Godric already know about the secret. It's even about Pam and Godric, too. You know how I give you blood every night?" _

"_Yes! So I can be healthy again! It makes me a very strong lilla älva." _

"_That's right. And the reason why it makes you a strong little fairy is because my blood is… magic?" _

"_Magic like the fairy godmother in Cinderella?" _

"_Not really, but let me tell you a story. A long time ago, there was a Viking warrior named Eiríkr inn sigrsæli, Eric the Victorious. He was wandering the Norseland, looking to avenge the murders of his parents and his little sister. He was a great warrior, but after a great battle he was mortally wounded. His companions prepared a funeral pyre, to send him to Valhalla. But before death could take him, a young Gaulish boy made a deal with him. He offered Eiríkr immortality. You know what immortality is, Sookie?" _

"_It's like never dying?" _

_I nodded. _

"_So the Gaulish boy offered Eiríkr immortality and Eiríkr accepted. So, the Gaulish boy turned Eiríkr into a vampire. You know what vampires are, Sookie?" _

"_Like Count Chocola and Sesame Street's Count von Count?" _

_I thanked my childe love of pop culture, otherwise I wouldn't know who these two counts were. _

"_Yes, but Eiríkr was turned into a vampire that drink blood to survive, not one that sells chocolate cereal or love mathematics. So the Gaulish boy and Eiríkr spent centuries together, roaming the Earth. One day, Eiríkr found a young woman who was unhappy in her life and decided to also give her immortality. Then one summer, not so long ago, the Gaulish boy, Eiríkr and the young woman met a little girl. The most amazing little girl they ever met. She was sweet and wasn't afraid of them. They became friends with her and promised to always protect her." _

_She frowned. "Eric… Are you Eirikir in siraseli?" _

"_It's Eiríkr inn sigrsæli, but yes, I am, min lilla älva." _

_She snuggled deeper in my embrace and sighed. _

"_I don't care if you're a vampire. You're MY Eric." _

_The weeks passed and she got stronger every day. She would run around the house in the daytime and spent her evening in my arms, listening to the many stories I had collected over the years. One evening in particular I woke from my daytime rest to find her in the kitchen, baking what appeared to be cookies with Adrianna. _

"_We could bring some to your daddy for when he wake up" said the young woman. _

"_But daddy is across the water, Adrianna!" _

"_What do you mean, your daddy is sleeping in his bedroom right now!" _

"_That's not my daddy, silly! Eric is not my daddy, he's daddy's friend! But he's MY Eric! I love him. And when I'll be a big girl I'm going to marry him!" _

_Her innocence was such a breath of fresh air. She didn't see us vampires as creatures of darkness, evil beings. Hearing her say she loved me warmed my dead heart. _

_We were halfway through the summer when I woke up from my rest to find the tiny little girl snuggled in my side, wearing her pink pajamas and carrying her faithful pink blanket. How she had been able to enter my day chamber, I wouldn't know. I felt through our bond – I had taken some of her blood the week before after she had scratched her knee on the gravel by the fjord – and found comfort and peace. I tried my best not to wake her and went downstairs to find Adrianna distressed and crying. _

"_Herr Northman! Jag förlorade henne! Jag förlorade lilla Sookie! Hon lekte i vardagsrummet och jag var i köket ... Jag gick tillbaka och hon var borta! Tänk om hon gick vid fjorden och föll i vattnet? (I lost her! I lost little Sookie! She was playing in the living room and I was in the kitchen... I went back and she was gone! What if she went by the fjord and fell into the water?)" _

"_Hon är okej. Hon är i mitt sovrum, sover. Se mig i ögonen, Adrianna. Du kommer att gå till sovrummet och glömma allt som hänt idag. I morgon du ska packa dina saker och lämna. Du kom aldrig till Öland. Du har aldrig träffat lilla Sookie. Du har aldrig träffat mig. Förstår du mig? (She is okay. She is in my bedroom, sleeping. Look me in the eyes, Adrianna. You will go to your bedroom and forget everything that happened today. Tomorrow you'll pack your things and leave. You never came to Öland. You've never met little Sookie. You've never met me. Do you understand me?)" _

"_Ja. (Yes)" _

_Sookie quickly adapted to a night time schedule. I arranged for a grocery store to make evening delivery and would feed on the delivery man. I would wake every night to find the little girl sleeping by my side or playing on the bed with her dolls. When the time came to go back to the States, I reluctantly handed her back to her father. _

_I knew that the night I met her my life had been changed, but this summer spent with her had been the point of no return. My undead life was forever linked with hers. We were bonded, by blood and by so much more._

* * *

I stayed by her side the whole day. By sunset the next evening she was still sleeping peacefully. I took a quick shower before writing her a note. Kissing her forehead one last time, I left the cubby and took to the sky to go to Pam's. I had some explaining to do.

**TBC**


	10. Chapter 9

**Author Note: WOW! A little more than 100 reviews! I'm so happy you all seem to enjoy my fic! When I first started writing it I was afraid people wouldn't like it, that people would say the characters were too OOC. It really means a lot to me. And since you are such an amazing bunch of readers (and since I've been suffering from an extreme case of insomnia) I've decided to reward you with a brand new chapter!**

**Even though my muse (a 6'4 Swede ;) ) was my constant companion these last couples of days, I had a little trouble with one scene in particular. This chapter contains my first ever sex scene (which is why I've change the rating to M - just to be safe). So please, be kind. I'm not what you would call a very seasoned writer and writing M scenes is very new to me.**

**So check out the pinterest board for Dead Briefs (the address is on my profile)**

**As usual don't forget to leave a review. Don't be afraid to give me suggestions ;) Luv, LaraK**

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**Chapter 9**

I woke up expecting to be sore and achy, but felt quite the opposite. I felt extremely relaxed, safe and energized. The several doses of Eric's blood last night sure helped! I reached for the other side of the bed and sighed at the emptiness. A quick look at the nightstand and I gasped. I had almost slept 24 straight hours! I couldn't believe it! Next to the iPod alarm clock station was a handwritten note, in an all too familiar script.

**I hope you had a good rest, min älskare.**

**Take it easy today.**

**E **

**PS If you need me, I'll be at Fangtasia this evening. **

I got up from the very comfortable bed and went up the stairs of the cubby, clutching to the fluffy towel wrapped around me. I opened the door and ended up in the living room where Gran, in a big fleece robe, and Jason were sitting on the couch, chatting softly.

"Hey, sleeping beauty! Finally joining the world of the living?" joked my brother.

Gran got up and hugged me.

"We were so worried, little girl!"

"She was worried, me not so much. The moment Pam told me Eric had you, I knew you would be okay."

"Don't make joke, Jason Corbett Stackhouse! Your sister could have died! If only Eric hadn't come at the right time…"

"Don't think about it, Gran. I'm okay, as good as new."

"And in your birthday suit, sis! Eric gave you a bath last night or what?"

"Shut up, Jason! If you want to know, yes he did. I was soaked in my own blood, so yes, he gave me a bath. Want to tell us what you were doing when Eric called Pam?"

"Gran! Tell her to stay out of my head!"

"Jason stopped bugging your sister and Sookie, please, respect your brother's privacy."

I sighed and went to my bedroom. I took a strapless black and white Lululemon dress and black and silver degradé Kitten heels Jimmy Choo – Pam would kill me if she caught me wearing anything but designer shoes. A quick touch of gloss, a side ponytail quickly transformed into a low bun and I was on my way downstairs. I found Gran by herself in the kitchen, reading a book and drinking a cup of tea.

"Where did Jason go?"

"Back home, he has to be in court early tomorrow morning. What about you, sweetheart? Looking pretty fancy!"

"You think? I'm just going to Merlotte's to grab a bite and a drink. I promised I won't stay out too long."

"You're a grown up, Sookie dear. I don't need to give you a curfew. Have fun, that's what y'all young people should do."

I grabbed my purse and my keys and went toward my car. My vision, after my dose of Eric's blood, was extremely good and I could see lights coming from the Compton's old plantation. I juggled with the idea of going there to thanks Bill for his help last night. Even though his blood would have been ineffective, he did tried to save me.

I parked in front of the house, indeed decrepit, and frowned upon hearing the loud music coming from inside. I was getting ready to knock when the door opened on an African-American female vampire.

"Hello there, human chick."

I frowned. Where had I seen her before?

"I'm looking for Bill Compton, is he here?"

"Maybe."

Another vampire, male this time, with shoulder length brown hair, appeared behind her.

"She smells fresh" he said, dropping his fangs.

I felt a void behind me and there was another vampire, bald with tattoo on his skull and bloody mouth.

"Oh my God! Diane Hardwicke, Malcolm Beaumarchais and Liam McKnight! I knew I remembered you from somewhere!"

The bald Liam frowned. "Who the fuck are you?"

I smiled warmly. "Summer of 2000, the three of you were put on trial before the Magister in Boston. You asked for Sheriff Northman's help and he put you through with his lawyer, Corbett Stackhouse. I'm his daughter, Sookie. I was interning for him that summer! Malcolm, you tried that same old trick with me, telling me I smelled fresh, but my father quickly reminded you that all your fates were in his hands… Are you in Louisiana now?"

"Corbett Stackhouse's little girl? You sure grew up, ma petite" said Malcolm, his French accent even more pronounced.

"Bill, you never said you knew Corbett Stackhouse" yelled Diane.

I walked into the foyer, followed by Liam and rolled my eyes at the view that was offered to me. Two fangbangers, male and female, were lounging on the couches and poor Bill looked utterly bored.

"He doesn't. My father unfortunately passed away last February, Diane."

"And how do you know Billy-Boy, Sookie?" asked Liam, clearly checking me out.

"She's my neighbor" explained Bill. "She lives across the cemetery."

"Can we taste you, sweet Sookie?" asked Malcolm, taking a deep breath.

"You can't!" exclaimed Bill. "She's MINE!"

What the…

"Excuse me? Yours?"

Bill quickly vamped to me and whispered in my ear.

"Tell them you're mine and they won't be able to touch you."

"No way! I'm not Bill's!"

"Then you're up for taking…" whispered Diane.

"Keep your fangs to yourself, bitch. I'm not Bill's, but I do belong to another vampire. Remember Sheriff Northman? I'm his!"

The disco triplets looked confused.

"You smell fresh, ma petite. Untouched. Virgin."

"No way you'd be Northman's and still a virgin…"

"Guess what, Liam? I am. I'm pretty sure Diane knows of the many ways a girl can keep a guy very happy without surrendering her virtue. And Sheriff Northman doesn't like to leaves marks on me. He says it would be a shame to mar my skin like a common fangbanger."

I was hoping for them to accept my lie. I looked around the room, disgusted by the state of it. How could Bill live in such a mess? And hadn't Jesse Compton been one of Bon Temps' richest citizens? The female fangbanger, half conscious, had several bites mark on her skin while the male one's, wearing only very short cut off jeans, looked untouched.

"_Come on, fangers. Stopped messing around with the blond chick and come have a taste of Jerry!" _

He seemed quite eager to get bitten.

"_Hope you like the taste of Hep D, fuckers!" _

Shit, Hep D? The bastard!

"Excuse me, but is your… donor named Jerry?" I asked, trying to look innocent.

Malcolm smiled brightly. "Yes. Good old Jerry, pretty good at BJ, you know."

TMI.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble about him, but he's got Hep D."

Jerry suddenly got off the couch and lunged toward me.

"You bitch!"

Luckily for me, Liam grabbed him by the throat.

"Is it true, Jerry? Do you have Hep D?"

"How the hell do you know that?" asked Diane, intrigued.

I had to come up with something and quickly.

"Sheriff Northman has an agreement with all the Louisiana clinics that offers the Hep D test. Whenever someone tests positive, we receive their medical files along with a picture. As Sheriff Northman's lawyer, I review these files and send the information to the concerned authorities. I just happened to have received Jerry's file recently. That's how I recognized him."

"Guess Jerry has some explaining to do" said Malcolm. "And it's a long way from here to Monroe."

In a flash the triplets and their two fangbangers were out of the house. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Aren't you concern about what they could do to Jerry?" asked Bill.

"He had it coming. He was clearly aware of being a Hep D carrier and was probably hoping to infect the disco triplets. I have no sympathy for people who want to hurt others."

"I've never met anybody like you before…"

Crazy Sookie's smile was back on! Of course you've never met anybody like me Compton!

"I've just been raised that way, you know. So… I wanted to thank you. For last night. I know you tried to save me…"

"And if Northman hadn't come in I would have saved you."

I didn't like the tone of his voice. It was as if he was pissed at Eric for showing up and not allowing him to play the hero.

"And if he hadn't come in you would have committed a blood offence and you would probably be awaiting trial before the Magister."

I was pretty sure he whispered 'it would have been worth it', but I couldn't be sure.

"You know what the sentence for a blood offence is, don't you Mr. Compton? True Death."

"You wouldn't have let them… I know you wouldn't have."

"You don't know me, Mr. Compton. Eric and I are blood bonded. What's between us is not just a blood tie. We're bonded and we've been bonded for close to 20 years now. He will defend me to the True Death and I would do the same thing for him and his bloodline. I don't think you'll ever be able to understand what unite us. I even have trouble sometimes…"

I looked around the room and smiled.

"You should hire a decorator. This house has so much potential."

"I know. I helped build it."

I went back to the foyer and stopped before passing the threshold.

"Have a good evening, Mr. Compton."

I made my way to my Q7 and let a laugh. Pam would have a blast when I'd tell her about my encounter with the disco triplets. The drive to Merlotte's was quiet, with only Katy Perry singing about kissing a girl and liking it – I had to make this Pam's ringtone! – then Leona Lewis lamenting about bleeding love – which was already Eric's ringtone, but hush, no one knew about this one.

The parking lot of Merlotte's was once more packed. I was barely able to find a spot. I hoped they wouldn't mind, but I clearly parked in the employees' lot, near the back entrance and the trailer that Merlotte called home. I shut the ignition and reached for the passenger seat where I had left my purse when two figures exited the bar by the employee only door. It was pretty dark, but again, thanks to Eric's very potent blood, my night vision was impressively improved.

Sam Merlotte and Tara Thornton were kissing and groping each other, the young woman's legs wrapped around his waist.

"No one has to know…" whispered Tara, between kisses.

"Oh God, Tara!" moaned Merlotte.

"I need it so much…"

I shook my head. Hearing about other people's sexual exploits in their minds was one thing, seeing it was something else.

When the door to the trailer closed behind them I left my car and entered the bar. It was truly packed. I found an empty spot by the bar which was manned by Lafayette.

"Look what the cat dragged in! Sookie Stackhouse!"

"Good evening, Lafayette! Glad to see you remembered me."

"I could never forget a cute little thing like you! What can Lala get you tonight, hookah?"

I smiled. "How about a margarita?"

"And one margarita for Blondie."

I looked around the bar and all the patrons seemed to be in big conversations.

"Big crowd tonight…"

"You is right, little girl" answered Lafayette, mixing my drink. "And that cuz of mine who decide to throw a tantrum at Sam… My man Terry and I are doin' our best to help out the girls… Heard 'bout them Rats?"

"What rats?"

"Not rats, hookah, the Rats, the Rattrays. A couple of white trash rednecks… definitely not the type of people a sweet little flower like you is associatin' with. There was an explosion at their trailer… Terry knows more 'bout it, though. Terry, come here my man! You gotta meet sweet little Sookie!"

A tall, awkward man with shaggy brown hair and a beard, wearing a white apron, came up from the kitchen.

"Terry Bellefleur, this sweet little lady is Miss Sookie."

I offered my hand and he hesitatingly shook it. I quickly got a glimpse of his thoughts. He had been in the army and had seen so many awful things… Poor man was clearly traumatized and suffered from a deep case of PTSD.

"Sookie Stackhouse, nice to meet you."

"You're Ms Adele's granddaughter, right?"

I nodded. "Bellefleur? You wouldn't happen to be related to Andy Bellefleur? I met him the other night with my Gran…"

"Andy's my cousin."

"Why don't you tell sweet Sookie 'bout them Rats, Terry? You went by their trailer this mornin', right?"

"Awful thin'… Andy said neither Denise nor Mac had any chance of survivin'."

Mac and Denise… The drainers! So this is how Pam took care of the bodies.

"There was a gas leak and Mac was a chain smoker… BOOM! They were both gone and ashes. Mike Spencer said there was nothin' left of them."

I frowned and sipped on the drink Lafayette put in front of me with the burger I didn't order but was dying to eat.

"Are you a mind reader, Lafayette?" I asked, half joking. "How did you know I was craving for one of your burgers?"

"Lala knows that once you taste his burger, you can't go back! Eat!"

I finished my plate and went back to the farmhouse. I was tempted to go back to the cubby and spend the rest of the night there, but in retrospect I realized it wouldn't be the same as last night. Last night Eric had held me, he had made me feel safe. I tiptoed to my bedroom, quickly changed into a pink cami pajama and brushed my teeth. I must have been pretty tired, because I fell asleep almost instantly.

I dreamed about a bed. A bed in a forest, surrounded by trees. It was daylight. I was standing by the bed end, in a long white silk nightgown. My hair was loose and the wind was softly blowing it. Two strong arms circled my waist and soft lips made their way down my neck. I knew it was him. In a blink of an eye, we were now lying on the bed, his hands mapping my body.

"It's daylight" I said.

"Yes" was his only answer as his mouth captured one nipple.

I arched my body and let the lust filled me. I opened my eyes and he was now completely naked. I reached for his hardness, but he quickly grabbed my hands, pinning them above my head.

"This is all for you…"

His mouth moved along my body, taking off my nightgown at the same time. I was now as naked as him, completely at his mercy. But what an amazing mercy. His hand let go of my own and they quickly found their place in his long hair. He was kissing me, as if he was marking his territory. He took special care of my belly button before going lower and lower, until his mouth found what it was looking for. I let out a moan as I rode the wave of pleasure. His tongue was eagerly torturing my nub while his fingers were entering me with vigor. But this wasn't what I wanted. I wanted another part of his anatomy to fill me.

"Eric… I need you… I need to feel ALL of you… Please… Please…" I begged.

"Not yet, lover. Not yet."

It didn't take long before I came, screaming his name and tightening my grip in his hair.

I woke up sweaty, spent, with my hand in my pj bottom. It had felt so real! A look at the alarm clock and I sighed. It was nearly 10AM… I went to the bathroom and took a long cold shower, but even after it I was still hot and bothered. I made my way downstairs and nearly jumped when I saw Gran and her friends from the DGD sitting in the living room, all looking quite gloomy.

"Good morning, ladies…"

"It is anything but a good morning, Sookie dear" answered Gran.

I frowned. "What… Did something happen to Jason? Eric? Pam? Godric?"

Mrs. Belanger took her handkerchief to her eyes, wiping away the tears.

"There was another murder! Dawn Green was found strangled in her bed this morning!"

Another murder… Looks like Bon Temps had a serial killer within its midst.

**TBC**


	11. Chapter 10

**Author Note: This girl is a machine - or she really needs sleeping pills! You know when you start writing something and you just can't stop? Well that's chapter 10 for you, ;) **

**As it was previewed in last chapter, it's the return of the ladies of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead! And I did something I wouldn't normally do, but since the DGD ladies are mostly (except of Mrs. Norris) original characters, I did a casting.  
**

**Mrs. Violet Norris: Dame Maggie Smith**

**Mrs. Lucille Miller: Dame Judi Dench**

**Mrs. Elizabeth Rochon: Dame Helen Mirren**

**Mrs. Jeannine Belanger: Vanessa Redgrave**

**Mrs. Aurora Hebert: Angela Lansbury**

**I know, these are all British actress, but imagine them with a Southern accent.**

**I made some change to certain characters' reactions in this chapter, you'll be able to see what I'm talking about. **

**As usual you can visit the pinterest page for this fic (address on my profile).**

**Don't forget to leave a review, I love reading your feedback. They make me wanna write faster and faster! Luv, LaraK**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

I sat down on one of the couches and realized how underdressed I was. The ladies and Gran were all dressed finely, while I was barefoot and wearing an old Harvard t-shirt and yoga pants.

"Don't worry about your attire" quickly said Mrs. Rochon. "I for one also love to lounge in my house in loose pants and my dear husband's old plaid shirt."

They were a funny bunch of ladies, Gran's friends.

"Does Bud have any leads on who might have killed those sweet young girls?" asked Gran.

Sweet young girl… That's so not the words I would have used to describe Dawn Green, but then again I had a privileged access to her mind.

"No" answered Mrs. Hebert, stirring her cup of tea.

"I don't know for y'all ladies, and especially you young Sookie, but I don't feel very safe in our good old Bon Temps anymore" sighed Mrs. Belanger.

Mrs. Norris dropped her tea cup on the coffee table and shook her head.

"Bud Dearborn better find out who's responsible for those crimes! My husband doesn't pay him to do nothing!"

"If they don't find out who did it, Bud Dearborn can say goodbye to my Red Velvet cake for his re-election's rally!"

From what I gathered from everybody's minds, Mrs. Miller's Red Velvet was the best cake in all Renard Parish. I poured myself a cup of tea and listened to the dear old ladies chatting away.

"Tell us, Sookie dear" said Mrs. Hebert, "do you have a beau?"

I smiled awkwardly. Did I have a beau? Could we consider what was between Eric and me as a potential romantic relationship?

"You can tells us, little girl" said Mrs. Belanger.

"Jeannine is right, Sookie dear, we're not a bunch of old gossips like that Maxine Fortenberry" explained Mrs. Norris. "I don't even know why we're all still socializing with her."

"That's because of her poor dear boy, Violet" explained Gran.

"You are right Adele, and didn't Maxine go to school with your younger sister, Lucille?" asked Mrs. Rochon.

Mrs. Miller nodded.

"And she was in the same class as your younger brother if I'm not wrong, Elizabeth, and wasn't she after your nephew at one time, Aurora?"

Violet Norris, Jeannine Belanger, Aurora Hebert, Lucille Miller, Elizabeth Rochon and Adele Stackhouse might not be a bunch of gossips ala Maxine Fortenberry, but they sure loved to hear about said gossips!

"So, dear Sookie, is there a young man who makes your heart flutter?"

I was quite flabbergasted.

"Or did you left a broken heart in Boston?" asked Mrs. Norris.

I looked at Gran who smiled at me.

"She does have a beau, Violet. And he's here, in Louisiana. You must all have heard Maxine gossiping about my supposed beau…"

"The big, tall, blond one who comes for Sunday night dinner?" asked Mrs. Hebert.

"The one that came for dear Corbett's, may he rest in peace, wake?" then asked Mrs. Rochon.

"I thought he was married with that blond woman he came with… Wasn't he with his teenage son as well?"

I had to try hard not to laugh at Mrs. Norris' description of both Pam and Godric.

"Are you one of those jaguar women, Adele?"

"It's cougar, Jeannine! Not jaguar, cougar" explained Mrs. Miller.

Gran laughed. "No… No, there's absolutely nothing between dear Eric and I."

"So, he's young Sookie's beau, then!" exclaimed Mrs. Belanger with delight.

"Where is he from?"

"Is he from the South?"

"Does he have any brothers?"

They were throwing questions at both Gran and I, and it was starting to make me dizzy. Mrs. Norris silenced them all before turning toward me.

"Tell us more about him. Does he have a good job?"

"Well… He's what you would call… an entrepreneur? He owns several successful businesses."

"Is he from around here or did you met him in Boston?"

"He's originally from Sweden. But he's been living in the States for a while now. He's established in Shreveport."

"Did your father approved of him? Assuming Corbett met him, of course."

Did my father approved of Eric? Yes, he was one of his best friends, but as a potential 'suitor' to his daughter?

"Corbett sure approved of Eric" finally said Gran. "And most importantly I approve of him. He's like a grandson to me. "

"You said he was a successful entrepreneur, Sookie dear, but he sure looks young for being one!"

I smiled at Mrs. Miller. They were in for quite a bombshell.

"Eric is older than he seems, Mrs. Miller. He's quite old actually."

"Then give me the name of his plastic surgeon, sweetheart, cause he sure doesn't look a day older than 30!"

"Well, Mrs. Rochon, when Eric was a young man in Sweden he was a Viking."

The five ladies frowned.

"Was he working in one of those theme parks? Like the Civil War one we visited last year?" asked Mrs. Hebert.

Mrs. Hebert was so sweet and naive. I really liked her.

"No, Aurora. Eric was a Viking. As in a contemporary of Leif Erikson."

"I don't understand, Adele…"

Mrs. Norris clearly had enough of the cluelessness of her friend.

"What Adele and young Sookie are trying to explain, Rory, is that this Eric is a vampire! And quite an old one, if I may say."

Mrs. Hebert let out a gasp before smiling brightly. The questions once again started and again I got dizzy.

"Is it true what they say about vampire, little girl?" asked Mrs. Rochon. "That they have quite the sexual stamina?"

"Elizabeth Rochon!" exclaimed Mrs. Miller.

"What? I'm just asking! Young Sookie doesn't have to answer if she doesn't want to."

I let a small laugh.

"I wouldn't know, Mrs. Rochon. Eric and I are quite in the early state of our relationship, if you can call it that."

"Waiting until your wedding night, little girl?"

If only Mrs. Belanger had known about my dream last night and how I woke up this morning. The subject quickly changed to the ladies old beaux and their past relationships. Apparently both my grandfather Earl and Mayor Norris had fought for Gran's affection before grandpa finally won her heart and Mrs. Norris came back from her finishing school in Savannah. We were nearly finishing up our second tray of Mrs. Rochon's scones when the front door opened on a very excited and out of breath Maxine Fortenberry.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it was polite to knock and wait until someone open the door, Maxine Fortenberry?" said Mrs. Norris, a bit haughty, but oh so true.

"_They're going to regret turning their backs at me once I tell them… Adele Stackhouse, get ready to fall off your pedestal!" _

"Oh my… You haven't heard yet?"

"Heard what, Maxine?" asked Mrs. Rochon, rolling her eyes.

"Well… it's all over town!"

"If it's about Dawn Green" started Mrs. Miller, "then yes, we know all about it. Violet is after all the Mayor's wife and Aurora and Elizabeth are both Caroline Bellefleur's neighbours."

A creepy smiled appeared on Mrs. Fortenberry's face.

"Dawn Green? That's old news! I'm talking about your grandson, Adele!"

Gran quickly grabbed my hands.

"What about Jason, Maxine?"

"Don't let the poor woman wait, for Heaven's sake! Tell her what this is all about! Don't stand there and gloat at her misery."

"Your husband might be mayor of Bon Temps, Violet Robillard, but that doesn't mean you are superior!"

"No, what makes me superior to you, Maxine, is my lack of crass and vulgarity."

"Will you both stop it!" nearly yelled Mrs. Hebert. "Now Maxine, will you put poor dear Adele out of her misery…"

"Your grandson was arrested for the murders of Maudette Pickens and Dawn Green!"

My heart stopped. My brother? Arrested? It was impossible!

"You're lying!" I finally said.

"Don't you dare call me a liar, little girl! We all know your brother was fooling around. And you're both working for vamps!"

"Stop spewing your venom, Maxine Fortenberry" said Mrs. Miller, getting up.

The difference between the two women was obvious. While Mrs. Miller was tiny and slender, Mrs. Fortenberry was several inches taller and way more imposing.

"And sweet Jason is innocent until proven guilty!"

"Kevin told Hoyt that the evidences against your so-called sweet Jason are concrete! He killed those girls!"

Gran was crying softly.

"Can't you see how much you're hurting poor Adele? You really have no shame!" said Mrs. Belanger, offering a handkerchief to Gran.

"Who's Kevin?" I asked.

"Kevin Ellis is one of Bud Dearborn's Deputies" explained Mrs. Norris. "A good for nothing deputy if you ask me."

"He's a Deputy? And he told your son Hoyt about an ongoing investigation?"

"Well, Hoyt and the other guys from the Road Crew were doing some work near the Sheriff station… They asked him what was going on and he told them."

"A Sheriff Deputy on duty told passersby, passersby who could very well be the real serial killer, about an ongoing murder investigation?"

"You already said that, little girl! And are you implying that my Hoyt is the one who killed those girls? Do I have to remind you who's currently being held in a prison cell?"

I got up and grabbed Mrs. Fortenberry by the arms, hauling her toward the door.

"Get the fuck out of my house!"

"Watch your language, young lady!"

"This is MY house and I'll use whatever language I see fit. Get back in your filthy car and get your big fat ass out of my property!"

I shut the door and tried to catch my breath. This was a nightmare! I was going to wake up and realize it was all a dream.

"Oh… Sookie… We have to call Eric and Pamela! My poor, poor Jason!"

I closed my eyes for a second and opened them as both Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Rochon were taking me in their arms.

"You have to stay strong for your poor grandmother, little girl" said Mrs. Miller.

"Go get dressed" said Mrs. Rochon, wiping away the tears I didn't know I was shedding. "I will drive you to the Sheriff Station."

The next half hour was blurry. Mrs. Miller took a powder blue dress out of my closet with nude pumps and a black leather purse – 'you need to look your best, little girl' she said – while Mrs. Rochon did my hair and put a delicate pearl necklace around my throat. I barely registered Mrs. Rochon telling me she would go back to the farmhouse and stay with Gran when she dropped me in front of the Sheriff Station.

I took a deep breath before walking in, as if I owned the place. Behind the counter was a funny looking man, absorbed by whatever he was watching on his computer. A look at his badge told me he was the infamous Deputy Ellis who had babbled about Jason's arrest.

"Excuse me?"

It took a little while before he acknowledged me.

"Yes, Ma'am, what can I do for you?"

"You can tell me if you are the Deputy Ellis who told passersby about an ongoing murder investigation."

"What… I… ongoing…"

"Did you or did you not told the Road Crew about Jason Stackhouse's arrest? Did you or did you not told them that the evidences against him were… what was the word? Oh yeah, concrete?"

"I… The Road Crew… I did…" he stammered.

"Are you or are you not Deputy Ellis?" I yelled.

"I am, Ma'am."

"It's Miss Stackhouse for you, idiot! Just know that I'm going to complain to your superior about your lack of professionalism. And when I'll be done with you, you won't even be able to get hire as a mall cop."

The stupid man gulped before pressing several buttons on his phone.

"Sheriff… You better come… I… Please, come out front!"

Sheriff Dearborn soon came out of his office and seemed to want to disappear once he saw me.

"Little Sookie Stackhouse…"

"I think it would be more appropriate if you'd call me Miss Stackhouse, Sheriff Dearborn."

"Yes, of course, Miss Stackhouse. What can I do for you today?"

What can I do for you today?! Really!

"Well, first you can take my complaint against Deputy Ellis. Unless there's a different law in Bon Temps, officers of the law are prohibited to talk about ongoing investigation with the general public. Your so-called Deputy apparently told passersby about my brother's arrest and about the evidences against him."

"Aren't you making a big deal of…"

"A big deal? Sheriff Dearborn, if my complaint against Deputy Ellis is not taken seriously I'm going to sue this Sheriff department for slander and emotional distress. My brother is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law! Aren't you supposed to be friends with my grandmother? My grandmother who had to learn about her grandson's arrest for heinous murders by the town worst gossip? I won't just have his badge, Sheriff Dearborn, I'll have yours too!"

The poor man looked scared. He stammered a little before asking me to sit down for a moment. I took the time to call Mr. Burnham, Eric's daytime assistant.

"Mr. Burnham? Sookie Stackhouse. We have a problem. Jason has been arrested or so it seems. I need you to contact Mr. Northman and Ms Swynford De Beaufort as soon as the sun sets. Yes, thank you."

A female Deputy, whose badge read Kenya Jones, came and offered me a cup of coffee. Unlike her boss and her colleague, she didn't seem scared of me and a quick look at her thoughts told me she wasn't really surprised at Deputy Ellis poor work ethic.

Sheriff Dearborn came back, followed by Andy Bellefleur.

"_Fucking Kevin! Ain't able to shut his fucking mouth!" _

Detective Bellefleur clearly wasn't impressed with Deputy Ellis.

"Detective Bellefleur, can you explain to me why my brother was arrested? And most importantly why his right to be represented by a lawyer of his choice wasn't respected?"

"_At least she's calling me detective and not Andy like the rest of 'em. Bud was right, she's not one to be messed with." _

"Well, Miss Stackhouse… Your brother has not exactly been arrested…"

"Yet" added Sheriff Dearborn.

A look at his mind and I realized that dear old Sheriff Bud was pretty convinced of Jason's guilt while his detective thought that the so-called concrete evidences were not making any senses.

"If he hasn't been accused nor arrested, then why the fuck are you holding him in?"

"I will ask you to watch your language, young lady" said Sheriff Dearborn, patronizing me.

"How many times will I have to remind you that it's MISS Stackhouse, Sheriff Dearborn. Your familiarity is not welcome right now. Detective Bellefleur, since my brother is not under arrest and only being hold for questioning, may I have a moment with him?"

"Of course. If you'll come with me."

I found Jason looking quite defeated, dressed in the suit he normally wore for court, his tie half done and his jacket lying on the back of his chair.

"Sookie!"

"Oh my God, Jason!"

I threw myself in his arms and let some tears fall down once the door closed behind me.

"Fucking Sheriff Dearborn and Andy picked me up at the court house! At the fucking court house! In front of all the other lawyers and judges! My career is over, Sook!"

"Hush, your career is not over, but Bud Dearborn's and Deputy Ellis' are! I'll sue their asses until they have nothing left but the clothes on their back!"

"How did you found out?"

He helped me sat down on one of the very uncomfortable interrogation room's chairs.

"Deputy Ellis apparently opened his big mouth and told the whole Road Crew and Hoyt told his mama who came to gloat at the farmhouse while Gran and her DGD friends were having tea…"

"Gran? Shit… Is she okay?"

I nodded. "Mrs. Belanger, Mrs. Norris, Mrs. Hebert and Mrs. Miller stayed with her while Mrs. Rochon dropped me here. They're going to stay with her until Eric and Pam…"

"You didn't…?"

"I had to, Jason! You're being wrongfully accused of murdering two girls! Two fangbangers, by the way! Eric was bound to find out. And under the VRA it would be considered a hate crime against vampires…"

I took his hands in mine and for one of the first time in my life I was the one who had to be strong for my brother.

"What are these evidences they have against you? I mean, apart from seeing these girls at Fangtasia… You've never slept with them, right?"

"Of course not! I didn't even know that Maudette! But apparently Dawn was keeping a diary… She wrote that I was having an affair with her… I never would have touched her with a ten foot pole, Sook, you've got to believe me!"

"I believe you, Jase… I don't even have to you-know-what, I know you never could have done that!"

Sheriff Dearborn and Detective Bellefleur came back an hour later and the old Sheriff had the guts to ask me to leave.

"Even if he's not under arrest, my brother has the right to be assisted by a lawyer during his interrogation, Sheriff."

Jason spent the rest of the afternoon telling the same story, that he had never met Maudette Pickens, or if he had, he had no recollection of it. That he never had an affair with Dawn Green. That the only times he ever saw her were when he was at Merlotte's and when he was at Fangtasia for business. He told them how she had once approached him there, but that he had rebuffed her.

Sheriff Dearborn brought in the evidence, i.e. Dawn's diary, but Jason's reminded him that there was no proof it was real. Detective Bellefleur asked him once again about his whereabouts on both nights of the murders.

"On the night Miss Pickens was killed, I enjoyed a quiet evening with my grandmother, my sister and two of my bosses, Mr. Northman and Ms Swynford De Beaufort, as well as Gran and Sookie's new neighbor, a Mr. Compton. Around 11PM, I drove back with Ms. Swynford De Beaufort to Shreveport…"

"And after that?" asked Bellefleur.

"Well… Ms Swynford De Beaufort and I finished the night at my place."

"Can we get this Ms Swingford to corroborate your version?" asked Dearborn, mispronouncing Pam's name.

"As soon as she awakes… Ms SWYNFORD De Beaufort is a vampire, Sheriff."

"Both Ms Swynford De Beaufort and Mr. Northman are going to come here as soon as the sun sets, Sheriff" I explained.

Jason took a deep breath. "I can't believe you would accuse me, a lawyer actually working for vampires, of killing two girls who were…"

"Fangbangers?" asked Dearborn. "Isn't it what they called them girls who have relations with fangers?"

"It ain't politically correct to call them that, Sheriff…"

"Listen to Detective Bellefleur, Sheriff Dearborn. And be careful about your use of the word 'fangers'. Some people might see it as some sort of discrimination against the vampire race. You wouldn't want a discrimination case on top of the slander one, would you?"

I was clearly pissing Sheriff Dearborn off.

"How about last night, Mr. Stackhouse?"

Jason sighed and for the Xth time told them what he had done the previous evening.

"I had dinner with my Gran, left shortly after 9 o'clock and went directly to my apartment in Shreveport. My doorman will be able to tell you I never left. And he'll be able to give you copy of the building's CCTV…"

There was some sort of commotion outside the interrogation room and the door quickly opened on stupid Deputy Ellis looking quite distraught.

"Sheriff Dearborn… There's Mrs. Stackhouse with… with two… vampires!"

His last word was uttered with fear and I was pretty sure he soiled himself. Gran appeared in the doorway, wearing her grey tweed set, followed by Eric in a blue midnight suit and Pam, pink from head to toe, except for her grey trench coat.

"Eric, Pamela… I have to displeasure of introducing you to Bon Temps' Sheriff, Bud Dearborn. The other gentleman is Detective Andy Bellefleur. Bud, Andy, Mr. Eric Northman and Ms Pamela Swynford De Beaufort, my dear friends and clients to my grandchildren."

Pam smirked at the two men, while Eric dropped a big manila envelope on the table.

"What is that?" asked Dearborn.

"These, Sheriff Dearborn, are the evidences proving Mr. Stackhouse's innocence. You'll find copies of the CCTV of his apartment the night of Miss Green's murder, CCTV of Fangtasia the night Miss Green accosted Mr. Stackhouse and proving he rejected her advances, an affidavit from Ms Swynford De Beaufort concerning the whereabouts of Mr. Stackhouse the night of Miss Pickens' murder and finally a transcription of the data of Mr. Stackhouse's car's navigational system."

Sheriff Dearborn looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Andy took the manila envelope and quickly look through it.

"All right, Mr. Stackhouse. You can leave. Thank you for your help today. And really sorry for any inconvenience it might have caused you."

"You're welcome, Detective Bellefleur" answered Jason.

After a quick handshake Jason went to hug Gran before leaving the interrogation room, sighing deeply. Gran approached her old friend and slapped him across the face.

"That is for not doing your job properly, Bud Dearborn!"

I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face. I grabbed my purse and followed my party outside. Pam had driven her pink minivan, while Gran had taken her Caddy.

"Thank you, Eric!" said Jason once we left the station.

"You've got nothing to thank me for, Jason. Let's just hope these cretins are able to catch this killer."

"Can I have some fun, Master?" asked Pam. "Can I glamour them into…"

"They're not worth it, Pamela. Bud Dearborn try not to look like it, but he's quite a bigot and once he's convinced of something…"

She didn't finish and let out a sigh. She was clearly tired. This whole day must have been hard on her.

"Pam, will you take Jason back to Shreveport. I'll escort Adele and Sookie back to the farmhouse."

Gran hugged both Jason and Pam goodbye before sliding in the back seat of her Cadillac, throwing the keys at Eric.

The drive was quiet. I think Gran might have fallen asleep at one point, but she woke just as we were pulling in front of the farmhouse. Eric helped her out and she kissed him goodnight.

"You're coming tomorrow night, right?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Adele."

She went inside, leaving us alone. I sat on the swing and smiled.

"Déjà vu?"

He just smiled back. How I loved his smile. I patted the seat next to me, inviting him. In two long strides he was sitting by my side. My hand found his and soon my fingers were intertwined.

"Thank you, for coming tonight…"

He shut me up by pressing his finger on my lips. Soon his free hand was caressing my face, tracing my jaw, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear. His eyes were an endless pool of blue. I could get lost in them. His face got closer, closer, closer. Our foreheads were touching, his nose nudged my own. His hand, his big, safe hand, cradled the back of my head… I closed my eyes and waited… Finally his lips took possession of mines. His tongue caressed my lips, asking permission, and finally battled with my own. I grabbed the lapel of his jacket, wanting him closer, needing him closer.

I don't know how long we kissed, but it wasn't long enough. One last kiss to my nose and he was getting up.

"You're leaving?" I asked, almost begging him not to go.

He smiled. "You need your beauty sleep. You wouldn't want to look tired for our date tomorrow. Good night min älskare."

And with that he took to the sky. My fingers lingered on my lips and I giggled. I had a date with one tall, blond, sexy vampire.

**TBC**


	12. Chapter 11

**Author note: Okay I really need sleeping pills! I hadn't planned on posting chapter 11 so soon, but here it is! I've checked my notes and even though there not all written, I have the complete blueprints for 6 more chapters all ready! So I should probably post 1 chapter per week, unless I continue to suffer from insomnia ;)**

**So it's the DGD meeting chapter, so more DGD ladies, mean Maxine Fortenberry, an appearance by Lala and a cliffhanger!**

**Check out the pinterest page (address on my profile) and don't forget to leave a review! I love reading them! I think my neighbours know when I check my email and I have some 'cause I squealing like a little girl. Luv, LaraK**

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**Chapter 11**

I woke up the morning of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting feeling giddy and light. A look at the alarm clock told me that I had more than my 8 hours of beauty sleep. I yawned a little before heading downstairs. I had some work to do before I had to get started for tonight.

Tonight… My date with Eric… I giggled at the thought of it. I was going on a date with Eric! Me, Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic lawyer, was going on a date with Eric Northman, Viking vampire Sheriff of Area 5! After years and years of fantasizing about him, I was finally going out on a date with him!

Gran had already left for the Church in preparations for the evening event so I finished filling out the property papers for the land we bought from Sam Merlotte and sent them via courier to the County office. A look on my planner and I realized that I had nothing else left to do. I checked my cell phone and smiled. Pam had arranged for me to get a whole afternoon of pampering at one of her pet's spa.

I ended up getting my hair trimmed, a pedicure, a manicure, a facial and a massage. The sun was getting ready to set when I drove back to Bon Temps and I still needed to do my makeup and get dressed. I spent half an hour looking through my wardrobe, trying to find the perfect outfit. I was still in my robe, still not knowing what the heck I was going to wear when I heard Jason come in with Pam and Eric.

"Sook, are you upstairs?"

I passed my head through the doorway and nearly bumped into Pam.

"Oh my… Don't you ever do that again!"

"Perfect, you're not dressed yet!"

"I'm not in the mood for your lesbian weirdness, Pam. I still don't know what I'm going to wear!"

I took a quick look at her and, as usual, she was perfectly dressed. She had a pale pink knitted dress and matching pumps.

"Is it going to be alright?" she asked. "I haven't been in a church in… well in forever!"

"You're… perfect! You're always perfect Pam, while I can't find anything to wear!"

She smiled and vamped downstairs before coming back a second later with a garment bag and two boxes.

"Aunt Pammy to the rescue, my little fairy!"

She opened the first box and I gasped at its content. She had bought me lingerie?!

"I can't wear that Pam!"

"Why not? It's Agent Provocateur, nobody will know that you're wearing it. Well except Eric if he…"

"Pam!"

"Alright! Go put them on while I take the dress out of the garment bag."

I reluctantly took the box and headed to my bathroom. I eyed the tiny pieces of lace suspiciously before taking my robe off and putting them on. The bathroom door opened and Pam handed me a beautiful red dress.

"It's Eric's favourite color… And it goes pretty well with your new tan."

Ten minutes later Pam and I were making our grand entrance at the top of the staircase. Eric was waiting at the bottom, dressed in a silk red shirt under his usual leather jacket.

"So, Master, what do you think?"

I smiled at Eric, slowly going down the stairs. He took my hand in his and pressed a soft kiss on my knuckles.

"Good job, Pam."

"Good job?! She's wearing an Alexander McQueen dress, Eric! It's not a good job, it's a fucking beautiful piece of art!"

Jason came from the kitchen, his mouth full of the cookies Gran had baked.

"Shit, Pam! If I had known you were all gonna be dressed to the nines I would have wore my suit!"

My brother had a collarless black dress shirt with what I knew was expensive designer jeans.

"I told you, Jason! You are casual chic! As for me, that's how I dress every night I'm not at Fangtasia. And Eric and Sookie do have a date after Mr. Compton's presentation."

I braced myself for my brother's comment about my date with our boss, but he said nothing. He just sighed and went outside, followed by Pam. Eric offered me his arms and we were heading to his Vette.

The Bon Temps church was packed. I could see Gran and her friends welcoming people and handing program while the Pastor and his wife were taking care of all the dishes for the reception afterward.

"Violet, Elizabeth, Lucille, Adele, Jeannine! Sookie and her beau have just arrived!" nearly yelled Mrs. Hebert.

"Braced yourself for quite a shock, Eric!"

"Why?"

Gran and her friends all came running toward us with big smiles. Gran kissed me and Eric hello before turning to her friends.

"Ladies, allow me to introduce y'all to my dear friend, Eric Northman. Eric dear, Mrs. Violet Norris, the mayor's wife, and the other ladies of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead; Mrs. Elizabeth Rochon, Mrs. Lucille Miller, Mrs. Jeannine Belanger and Mrs. Aurora Hebert."

Eric smiled warmly at the little old ladies and I was pretty sure Mrs. Belanger had the vapours.

"It's wonderful to meet you, young man!" said Mrs. Hebert.

"Young man? He's nearly 15 times your age, Aurora!" sighed Mrs. Norris.

Mrs. Rochon kept looking at Eric as if he was the last cookie in the jar, licking her lips.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Northman."

"The pleasure is all mine, ladies. Allow me to introduce you to my… to my friend, Ms Pamela Swynford De Beaufort."

Pam smiled (!) and complimented the ladies on their dresses (!). Quickly the whole room was standing around us, curious about the two new people escorting the Stackhouse siblings. Questions were asked and both Pam and Eric were gracious enough to answer each one of them.

Dropping my shields a little I caught several glimpses of people's thoughts.

"That's one piece of giant man cake!"

"I wonder if that Stackhouse girl lets him bite her…"

We were quickly ushered to our seats while Gran and the five ladies went to the front of the room. Maxine Fortenberry held her head high and followed them, putting on a fake smile. Anyone could see the tension between them, but Mrs. Fortenberry acted as if it was nothing.

Gran introduced Compton has one of Bon Temps' original sons who had fought for Louisiana during the fight for Southern Independence.

"I'm giving you First Lieutenant William Thomas Compton!"

Compton came out from a side door and took his place in front of the podium, thanking the charming ladies for their warm welcome. He looked at the crowd and stiffened the moment he saw Eric and Pam, who waved at him with a smirk.

Eric possessively took my right hand in his and let it rest on his tight. I concentrated on his void, not trusting my shields in such a crowded room. Soon my head was on his shoulders and he softly kissed my forehead. A part of me was afraid it was all for show. But another part was excited.

I honestly didn't really pay attention to what Compton was saying and was quite glad when he finally finished. I expected people to swarms toward him, but they did the opposite. They all turned their back on the man who had entertained them for the last hour with his recollection of the Civil War and surrounded both Eric and Pam.

While my date and his Childe were amusing the good citizens of Bon Temps, I went to the refreshments table and got myself a glass of Sweet Tea. Bill was standing close by, Mrs. Fortenberry taking pictures of him with her old compact camera.

"If you will all excuse me" said Eric, charming as ever, "but I promised this nice young lady to buy her dinner."

"Goodness gracious" said Mrs. Norris, "don't tell us we're all keeping you from your date with young Sookie!"

"No need to excuse yourself, Mrs. Norris" I said, putting my glass on the table and joining them. "Eric is quite the attraction!"

He smiled at me and I was pretty sure I heard people awing.

"Datin' a vampire? How can you allow your granddaughter to date a vampire, Adele Stackhouse?"

All eyes were now on Mrs. Fortenberry. I had thought that after throwing her out of the house she would have learned not to mess with us Stackhouses.

"What if he's a vampire, Maxine? Eric is a gentleman, he treats my Sookie with respect and care."

"Really, Maxine Fortenberry, he's clearly a man of means who can provide for young Sookie" added Mrs. Hebert.

Mrs. Fortenberry snorted. "A gentleman? A man of means? What about the fact that he's a dead man walking? That he could never make an honest woman out of her? Marriage between human and vampire is till illegal!"

"Canada and the state of Vermont have legalized Human-Vampire marriage, Mrs. Fortenberry. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the States does too" stated Jason.

"They said the same thin' 'bout them same-sex marriages, Jason Stackhouse, and I don't see any faggots getting married in the Great State of Louisiana!"

"Faggots?!" yelled Tara Thornton, who up until now had remained completely silent. "I'll be sure to tell Lafayette what you really think of him, Mrs. Fortenberry!"

If only she knew what Maxine Fortenberry really thought… She hated Methodists, Catholics, gays, single mothers – and she had been one!, Latinos, Blacks and so many more things.

"All I'm sayin' is that he'll never give her what a LIVE man would: children."

That last one really hurt. While I never really took the time to think about children, it stung that it was one of the only things Eric would never be able to give me. I heard Pam's fangs clicked and she whispered in my ear.

"Want me to take care of the old bat for you, Tinkerbelle?"

"She's not worth it… She's just an ignorant bigot."

I closed my eyes, fighting the tears that threatened to roll down. Eric squeezed my hand and I felt a wave of calm crashing on me.

Mrs. Fortenberry realized that her presence wasn't welcomed and shortly left, while Pam and Jason announced they were taking Gran, her friends and their husbands to Fangtasia for a special night.

The little old ladies were all excited about the idea of going to a genuine vampires bar and they all piled up in their cars, heading toward Shreveport. Eric and I were the last to leave, waving at them.

"Want to go and mess with the Shifter?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

I smiled and nodded. We shortly pulled up into Merlotte's. Sam Merlotte was manning the bar and gulped at the view of Eric. My Viking simply smiled at the Shifter and directed me toward an empty booth. Several of the people who had been at the DGD meeting were now enjoying a drink at the bar and looking at us. Lowering my shields down, I realized that most of them were simply curious. Arlene Fowler, meanwhile, was conflicted. She was afraid of Eric for being a vampire, but she thought he couldn't be that bad if he was so nice to me and Gran.

The waitress came and took our order – well my order since Merlotte's stock of Tru Blood had expired. Eric watched me eat my chicken Caesar salad, smiling at my moans of delight at the taste of it.

"You will never guess who I saw the other night at Compton's!" I said between a sip of my Sweet Tea.

"You were at Compton's? Why?"

"Just wanted to say thanks… For the drainers, you know. Well I go there and guess who was visiting? The Disco Triplets!"

He frowned. "Who?"

"Diane, Malcolm and Liam! Didn't they check in before moving to Monroe?"

"They did, but I didn't know they were acquaintances of Compton. Are they still as wild as ever?"

"Always. Anyway, one of their… donors had Hep D and was hoping to infect them. If they ask, you have an agreement with the Hep D test clinics and receive reports on the people who test positive. I had to come up with something as to not out myself as a telepath, you know."

"You don't need to justify yourself, min älskare. But now that you're telling me, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to have that sort of program. Can you contact those clinics and…"

I smiled. "I'm already working on it."

We continue to chat about everything and anything, interrupted once in a while by our waitress.

"Well, well, well… Little Sookie Stackhouse! And who's that hunk of a man with you, little girl?"

I laughed at the arrival of Lafayette. Eric simply raised an eyebrow at the 'flamboyant' cook.

"Lafayette Reynolds, allow me to introduce you to Eric Northman. Eric is the owner of Fangtasia, you might have heard of it, it's a bar in Shreveport. Eric, this is Lafayette Reynolds. He's a cook here at Merlotte's."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Reynolds."

Lafayette swooned before fanning himself.

"I guess the saying is wrong in your case, big guy."

"What saying?" asked Eric.

"All the handsome ones are gays! You is one lucky bitch, hookah! We should get together one of these days. If that's the type of men you is hanging out with, Lala wants a piece of it!"

After exchanging our cell phone numbers, Lafayette went back to the kitchen and I finished my meal. Eric threw several bills on the table before helping me out of the booth. I felt a tingle in the pit of my stomach as his big hand rested on the small of my back.

"Want to go for a ride?" he asked, putting the powerful Vette into gear.

"Yeah, why not."

I didn't want this date to be over yet. He stopped the car next to a nice park. The view on the old trees was fantastic.

"Thank you for putting up with Gran's friends. I hope they weren't too much…"

"They reminded me of my village's Elders, a meddling bunch of old women. They were pretty charming."

"They were all under your spell! I can't believe Mrs. Rochon copped a feel! What a flirt!"

We both laugh at the recollection of Mrs. Rochon's molestation of Eric's butt.

"About Mrs. Fortenberry… I'm so sorry if anything she said…"

"You don't need to apologize for that crazy old crone, min älskare. But I have to admit she did make some valid points. I'll never be able to share the days with you. I'll never get to see the sun shine in your beautiful long hair…"

"I don't care, Eric. All those things don't matter. I have feelings for you and they are stronger than ever!"

"I know, min älskare. I do too. But I'm sorry I'll never be able to give you children."

Tears rolled down my cheeks. He leaned down toward me, his hands cupping my face before giving me the most tender kiss ever. Forehead to forehead, I looked into the blue sea that were his eyes and smiled.

"I won't lie to you, Eric. I am disappointed that you could never give me a baby. Can you imagine a child of ours? With your beauty and my brain?"

He let out a laugh. "Your beauty and my brain, min älskare…"

"Whatever… I could never regret loving you, Eric. Because I do. I love you, Eric."

He didn't answer. He just took my mouth in a long, searing kiss that turned the rest of my body into jelly. He unfastened my seat belt and I ended up sprawl across him. My hands went directly to his long hair while his went to my buttocks. I could feel his hard on and I was getting more and more turned on by the minute.

"Inte här, min älskare. (Not here, my lover)"

He gently put me back on my seat, kissing me one last time. Not letting go of my left hand, he drove down the quiet roads leading to the farmhouse. He stopped the car next to my Q7. The lights were turned off, Gran was either still in Shreveport or she had gone to bed. He followed me up the porch and, while I was trying to unlock the front door, kissed my neck and circled my waist. When I finally succeed in opening the damn door, I turn around and threw myself at him. My legs quickly wrapped around his waist, his hardness pressing against my core.

"Cubby…" I whispered between kisses.

In our eagerness to get there, we fell down to the floor. He let out a groan while I giggled… Until I felt something sticky and wet underneath me. The expression on Eric's face quickly changed. He got off me, turned on the lights and we both let out a gasp. The floor was soaked in what appeared to be… blood.

TBC


	13. Chapter 12

**Author Note: You thought I would leave you with that cliffhanger? Nah, not me! I'm not evil! Thanks to my insomnia I was able to write chapter 12 (although it's quite short) in only a couple of hours! And I'm giving it to you NOW!**

**Thank you for your kind reviews, especially to the Guest reviewer who gave me some tips regarding said insomnia. **

**Check out the Pinterest page (address on my profile) for the pics of Eric's house.**

**Don't forget to leave a review, they are what makes me write - the proof being how soon this chapter is up! Luv, LaraK**

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**Chapter 12**

I got up and turned on the light. Sookie was laying in a puddle of… blood? No, it didn't smell like either human or animal blood.

"Is it blood? Oh my God, Gran!"

"It's not blood, min älskare…"

I dipped my finger in it and smelled it. It smelled suspiciously like Tru Blood.

"I think it's Tru Blood, but there's something wrong with it…"

I helped her up and we looked around the house. The living room had been trashed and on one of the wall, written in the same red substance, was a message.

"You're next fangs loving bitch… Shit!"

I could feel the fear slowly filling my fearless little fairy. I took her in my arms and kissed her forehead. Several calls were made. Sookie called the Bon Temps PD while I called Pam and my day man.

I explained to Pam what had happened and how I didn't want Adele to come back home. I didn't want her to see her house in the state it was. My call to Bobby Burnham was quick. I asked him to have a team ready to come and clean the house in the morning and to have a security system installed ASAP.

I found Sookie on the porch, sitting with her knees to her chest.

"Pam will keep Adele in Shreveport and I have arranged for a team to come and clean up and put a security system."

She looked up at me and extended her hand toward me, inviting me to sit next to her. As soon as I was by her side she curled up on me and started to sob.

"Hush, min älskare… I won't let anybody hurt you."

"I'm so scared Eric…"

I tried to soothe her by softly humming an Old Norse lullaby my mother used to sang to me. Soon two squad cars from the Bon Temps PD and Detective Bellefleur pulled into the driveway. I got up and explained the situation to them. Detective Bellefleur asked Deputy Jones to stay with Sookie while I went inside with him and Deputy Ellis.

"Is it blood?" asked Bellefleur looking at the puddle on the floor.

"No. It smells like Tru Blood gone bad."

When they saw the message on the wall, Bellefleur jaw dropped.

"You think it's the same guy who killed those girls that did that?"

"I don't know, Detective, but this is clearly a warning."

Deputy Ellis collected evidence and took several pictures while Detective Bellefleur and I did a quick tour of the house, making sure everything was in its place. Arriving in front of the armoire hiding the entrance to the cubby, Bellefleur stopped.

"What's in it?"

"Nothing of importance, Detective."

He frowned and looked at me suspiciously.

"I think you're hiding something from me…"

I looked him in the eyes.

"This is the entrance to the cubby I installed, Detective Bellefleur. There's nothing suspicious about it. You will forget all about it."

"I'll forget all about it. It's nothing important" he said, under my glamour.

I went back to the porch and relay Deputy Jones. Sookie was shaking like a leaf. I took my jacket off and put it on her shoulders. She looked up at me and thanked me before kissing me softly.

A whoosh of wind preceded the arrival of one unwanted Bill Compton.

"Sookeh!"

My little fairy barely registered his presence and simply nodded. I kissed her forehead before joining Compton down the porch's steps.

"I saw the lights of the police squad cars… Did something happened?"

"Sookie is going to be alright, Compton. Everything is under control."

"What happened? Something must have happened if…"

I was getting tired of this snotty little bugger.

"You heard about those fangbangers being killed around town?"

"Unfortunately, yes. The Sheriff and one of his detectives came to my house earlier to ask me some questions… Was Sookeh attacked by…"

"My name is SOOKIE, rhymes with cookie" said my little fairy, finally getting out of her trance. "If you can't even pronounce my name correctly then call me Miss Stackhouse."

I had to try hard not to laugh.

"To answer your question, no, I was not attacked by the monster who killed those two girls."

"The killer apparently left a warning… Trashed the living room."

"If you want, I can stay with you tonight, Miss Stackhouse. I could keep you safe…"

I snort at the pitiful excuse of a vampire standing next to me. Him, keep her safe? As if I would entrust the safety of my Sookie to him! I was a Viking, for fuck's sake! And Vikings took care of their own.

"No need, Compton. Sookie is coming with me to my house in Shreveport."

Compton's jaw nearly hit the ground.

"What's the matter, Compton? You thought I didn't own a house? What, you thought I rested in Fangtasia's basement?"

"No… I'm just surprised that you would allow a human into your resting place."

"For your information Compton, because you are such a snotty little bastard, Sookie has shared my resting place several times in the past. Now, shoo. We don't need you here."

He looked at Sookie, as if hoping she'd ask him to stay, before vamping toward the cemetery. I let out a long sigh. Detective Bellefleur and the two Deputies exited the house, carrying several bag of evidences.

"Our job is done. You'll have to do a lot of cleaning, but we're done here. Miss Stackhouse, we'll call you when we'll have the results of the evidences we collected or if we have more questions. Good evening."

Sookie thanked them but didn't move from her spot. I closed the front door before scooping her in my arms and carrying her to the Vette. The drive to my Shreveport home was done in silence. We stopped at the gate and she finally got out of her trance-like state.

"This is your house?!"

I nodded, entering the code to open the gate. I owned several properties across the globe and Sookie had seen many of them, but it was the first time she was seeing my main residence.

"It's not a house, it's a freaking mansion!"

I smiled. I took great pride in my homes. In fact, the Shreveport one was one of my two favourites, the other being the Öland farmhouse. The reason behind the farmhouse being the memories it held, what with it being built on the land where my homestead once stood and the memories of my summer with Sookie. This one… This one I had it built with the hope that someday Sookie would call it home. What can I say, when I want something I do everything to get it. I've wanted Sookie for a while and I knew that someday I would have her.

I stopped the car in front of the entrance and helped Sookie out of it. She was still shaking, clinging to my jacket.

"Let's get you inside…"

I unlocked the main door and invited her in. She stepped in, a little unsure and gasped at the staircases.

"Wow… You have a really beautiful house, Eric."

"Wait till you see the rest."

I took the jacket off her shoulders and dropped it on a chair. Sookie slowly ventured toward the living room gapping at the large windows.

"But… Do you have to sleep underground? I mean, there's so many windows… Are you stuck in your day chamber till sunset or…"

"Don't worry, min älskare. The whole house is light tight. I had a system of light tight shutters installed when I had it built. The shutters go down 30 minutes before dawn and open 30 minutes after sunset. Come…"

I took her hand and we climbed the stairs to the second floor. We passed several doors before arriving to the Master bedroom.

"Is it your bedroom, Eric?" asked Sookie in a little voice.

"Yes, min älskare."

"It's very you. Masculine, strong…"

The room was in very rich tones with a huge fireplace and a king poster bed. I turned toward Sookie and softly stroke her hair. She looked up and stood on her tiptoe before clutching her lips to mines. I grabbed her by the butt and she circled my waist with her long legs. I carefully walked to the bathroom before putting her back on the ground.

"Bath or shower?" I asked.

She looked first at the big tub, then at the large glass shower, biting her lower lip.

"Shower."

I went and turned the water on, before starting to take my shirt off.

"Wait!"

I stopped and frowned. Sookie approached me and started to undo the buttons of my shirt. Soon it was on the floor, followed by my jeans and my silk boxers. She took a deep breath and blushed at the view of my cock. I grabbed her by the back of her head and crashed my lips on hers before tearing the front of her dress, ripping it.

"Pam is going to kill you!"

"Then I'll die a happy man!"

She was wearing delicate lace black underwear. She looked amazing, feminine, mine. I unhooked her bra and cupped her delicious breast before taking one nipple in my mouth. She somehow shimmied out of her panties and let her hands map my chest.

We made it to the shower, caressing each other while washing away the remnant of the mess we had found at the farmhouse. She got me on my knee while she washed my hair. It was too good an opportunity for me. My mouth was literally aligned with her center. I had to taste her. I opened her and push one finger, then two inside her while worshipping her with my mouth. She was gripping my hair, arching her back and moaning her pleasure loudly. She soon came and nearly fell into my waiting arms. I rinsed both of us before drying her with large towel.

I carried her to the bed, lounging above her, admiring the beauty that was offered to me. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my entire long life and she was mine.

"Eric… I… I need you!"

"All good things comes to those who waits, min älskare."

I kissed my way down her body and resumed my assault to her center. God, she tasted like Valhalla! I brought her twice to pleasure before I knew she was ready for me. I slowly entered her, never taking my eyes off of her. When I felt the barrier guarding her innocence I stopped.

"We can stop now, min älskare. All you have to say is…"

She didn't let me finish and raised her hips, breaking the barrier. She winced a little and a single tear escaped her eye. She was so tight and warm.

"Thank you, min älskare, for this gift."

"Only you, Eric. It was always you."

I gave her time to get accustomed to my size before starting the waltz of slow, long strokes. She grabbed my shoulders, panting, trashing.

"Harder… Please!"

Who was I to deny her? I began a series of short, harder strokes and soon I could feel her spasm around me. She came screaming my name and I followed her, screaming in Swedish. We stayed like this for a while, still connected, half laying on each other. I reluctantly left her warmth and covered us with the bedspread. She snuggled in my side, her ear next to my dead heart.

"My heart is beating so fast and so hard that it's as if I can hear it in your chest…"

I kissed her and she smiled at the hardness already pressing against her tight.

"I guess I'll be able to tell Mrs. Rochon that it's true what they say about vampire's sexual stamina…"

"What?"

"Mrs. Rochon asked me if it was true, what they say about your sexual stamina. I told her I didn't know. But now I can answer…"

I smiled and turned off the light on the nightstand. Dawn would come soon enough and I would be dead for the day. I savoured this precious time spent with my spent little fairy resting in the safety of my arms. She yawned and closed her eyes.

"Good night, min älskare…"

**TBC**


	14. Chapter 13

**Author Note: My insomnia bout is over! Which explain why I haven't posted this chapter sooner... I've been sleeping a lot lately, dreaming about a certain Swede... Anyway I'm giving you now chapter 13, then I'm off to bed ;)**

**Don't forget to check out the pinterest page for more pics (address on my profile)**

**As usual leave a review after reading. I love reading them - God I sound like an old woman saying the same damn thing all the time! Luv, LaraK**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

I was dreaming. I was in a kitchen, sipping a glass of milk. The sun was shining through the windows and I was smiling. I heard the familiar patter of tiny footsteps coming down the hallways. I turned toward the sound and smiled at the two blond haired angels still in their pajamas.

"What have I said about running?"

"Sorry mommy" said the little boy.

"I sorry mama" echoed the little girl.

They looked around and frowned.

"Daddy?" asked the little girl.

I put my empty glass in the sink.

"Daddy is still sleeping, sweetie."

The two little ones exchanged a look before running hand in hand toward the stairs. I laughed and followed them upstairs. I stopped in the doorway and smiled at the view offered to me. The two tiny monsters were jumping on the bed, trying to wake their father.

"Daddy, wake up!" said the little boy.

"Up, daddy! Not sweepy 'nymore!"

Their father let out a groan before catching both tykes in his arms.

"You've awaken the tickle monster!"

Screams of delight filled the room. I just stood there, watching them playing, until he beckoned me to the bed. Careful of the two precious beings sprawled across the bed, he kissed me before letting his hands rest on my large stomach.

"And how are you this morning, min fru (my wife)?"

"I would be better if your youngest son wouldn't use me as a punching bag!"

He dropped a kiss to my belly before capturing my lips.

"I love you, my Sookie."

"I love you too, my Eric."

I woke up disoriented, pinned to the bed by a dead for the day giant blond vampire. It wasn't the first time I had dreamed of Eric being human. But it was the first time I had dreamed of us having children. I guess Mrs. Fortenberry's comment had touched a sensitive spot.

It took me a good 5 minutes to unpin myself from my unfortunate position. I looked at the handsome man lying on the bed and couldn't really believe he was finally mine. He had thanked me last night for giving him my virginity, but I was the one who was thankful. He had cherished me, showing me how much he cared for me. I kissed his lips before attending to my human need in the bathroom. I found my panties in the pile of clothes we had left and put them on. Eric had really ruined my dress. I went back to the bedroom, clothes in hand, and went toward the walk in closet. Turning on the light I frowned.

Half the closet – if you could call it a closet, it looked more like a showroom than anything else – was filled with Eric's clothes, but the rest was filled with women's. I knew Pam had quite a large wardrobe, but to have to store some at Eric's place? I grabbed one of his large Fangtasia t-shirt and decided to explore the house. The antique clock resting on the mantel of the fireplace told me it was a little after 1. I would probably have 3 hours till Eric rises from his day rest.

I felt like an intruder, walking around his house. As he had promised, light tight shutters were blocking the sunshine from entering the house. At least he could enjoy his beautiful home upon rising. I knew that at his age he could rise up to 2 hours before sunset. I wandered toward the kitchen, expecting it to be pretty bare, but was quite surprised to find it complete with very modern looking appliances. A note had been left on the kitchen island and I smiled at his handwriting.

**Min älskare, **

**I'd like to thank you again for the gift you bestow me last night. I will forever treasure the honor you gave me. **

**You will find the refrigerator and pantry filled for your needs. Explore the house as much as you want. **

**If you'd like to sunbathe today – in the nude preferably – the code for the door is the date of your birthday. **

**Forever yours, **

**E **

I'd probably skip on the nude sunbathing, but it was good to know I wasn't prisoner of the house for the day. I made myself a light lunch before exploring the rest of the house. It was a shame Eric was alone to enjoy that big house. The living room with its fireplace and state of the art entertainment center, the dining room… It was the type of house the family from my dream would have enjoy.

Opening door after door I found what I presumed was Eric's office. I was curious about the lack of bookcases 'till I found his private library… Two stories high of walls covered in books! Gran would flip! I grabbed one and smiled. Den allvarsamma leken by Hjalmar Söderberg. I remembered Eric reading it to me back in Öland. I took it to the living room and, comfortably seated in the big sectional couch, started reading. To my surprise the margins were filled with notes, mostly Eric's thoughts on the plot, but also anecdotes. Apparently I had thought that it was too sad, that the two heroes should have marry each if they loved each other that much instead of marrying other and be miserable.

The ring tone of my cell phone coming from the foyer got my attention. I found my purse on the table at the entrance, next to Eric's leather jacket.

"Hello?"

"Thank God you is okay, hookah!" said Lafayette, relieved. "You got some splainin' to do, little girl!"

"Good afternoon Lafayette! And what exactly should I explain?"

I went back to the living room and sprawl across the couch.

"Rumour has it you is in trouble, little miss! Andy told the whole town the fella who offed Maudette and Dawn is after your lily white ass! Tell Lala that hunk of a man of yours is takin' good care of you!"

I smiled. "Someone trashed the farmhouse while I was out on my date and Gran was in Shreveport. I was pretty shocked, but physically I'm okay."

"You sure you is okay, little girl?"

"I am. Eric has been taking good care of me. I'm actually staying with him at his Shreveport's house."

"You is stayin' at his house, uh? You is actin' like a true Southern Belle or you is actin' naughty?"

I laughed. If only he knew how naughty I had been last night.

"Ladies don't kiss and tell, Lafayette."

"No, but Lala ain't no lady and he wants to know… How 'bout we meet tomorrow so you tell Lala all 'bout your sex-on-a-stick vamp?"

"Alright… Tomorrow at noon? Where do you wanna meet? In Shreveport or in Bon Temps?"

"I gotta stay in bumfuck, workin' with the Road crew in the mornin' and workin' the dinner shift at Merlotte's."

"Alright, then. Tomorrow at noon at Merlotte's?"

"It's a date, hookah!"

I hung up and put my phone on the coffee table. I continued my exploration of the house and found the door to the basement. I was expecting a dark dungeon type of room, but was surprised to find a state of the art home theater.

I went back upstairs and took our clothes – or in my case what was left of my clothes i.e. my underwear, and found the laundry room. Rummaging through his laundry basket, full of jeans, wife beaters, tee-shirt and next to no boxers – someone seems to favor going commando, I started a load of laundry. It was so mundane, doing the laundry for my boyfriend.

Boyfriend? No, Eric was no boyfriend. Lover? It sounded so… I don't know, it seems to minimize what we shared. Love of my life? Definitely.

I went back to the bedroom and crawled back between the sheets. Even though his chest wasn't moving and he was cold to the touch, Eric didn't look like a corpse. He looked peaceful, almost youthful. I knew I was the only human he ever allowed next to him during his day rest and I knew the importance of it. He trusted me with his safety while he was in his most vulnerable state. I snuggled on his chest and closed my eyes.

I felt him stir and rises. He lower his head and captured my lips.

"Good evening, min älskare."

"Good evening, Eric."

The awkward morning after – or in this case evening after.

"Have you been up for a while?"

"Not very long. You completely exhausted me last night. I grabbed a bite in the kitchen, found your note and explored the house."

"And what did you think of it, lover?"

I smiled. "It's beautiful, really. I'm impressed. But it's way too much for an eternal bachelor like you."

"I thought that after last night I wasn't a bachelor anymore."

He was giving me his panty dropping smirk. Too bad I wasn't wearing any.

"I hope so. I'm a very jealous woman."

His hands travelled down my back to the hem of the shirt. The coldness of his touch against my overheated flesh made me shiver.

"I wasn't expecting you to wear anything, lover" he said, huskily, taking the shirt off me.

"Well, a certain blond vampire ripped my dress in two. I couldn't wander around his beautiful home wearing only my birthday suit, so I had to raid his closet."

His lips were attacking my neck.

"The clothes in there weren't to your taste?"

"No, they were wonderful, but I know Pam. I wouldn't dare touch her things. Which reminds me, does she have that many clothes that she needs to squat your walk-in closet?"

He laughed. "You thought they were Pam's?"

"Well, unless you have a live-in girlfriend I don't know about… Whose clothes are they, then?"

"They are yours, min älskare. I had Pam and Adele buy them for you. But if you don't like them, we can send them back…"

I was shocked. "Mine? Why would you have clothes for me in your resting place? Were you…"

"Would I scare you if I said that I built this house with a certain blond telepathic fairy lawyer in mind? That I was hoping that one day she would hopefully call it home?"

I close my eyes and felt tears threatening to fall.

"Don't cry, min älskare… I'll have the clothes taken back…"

"No… I… Thank you, Eric. I really appreciate it. It means a lot to me. I…"

I kissed him, hoping the kiss would convey what I was feeling and had so much trouble expressing. He had built this house for me. He had hoped I would one day live with him.

"I love you, Eric."

"Du betyder allt för mig. (You mean everything to me) "

We kissed for a long while – how long I wouldn't know. His hands were massaging my breast, then cupping my bottom. I let out a moan when I felt his hardness trying to enter me. I was more than ready for a repeat of last night. At one point I heard the light tight shutters opened and felt the moonlight filter through the curtains.

"Are you ready for me again, lover?"

I didn't answer, but raised my hips, sending him to my hot and wet center…

And that's when his cell phone rang. He let out a groan of frustration and roll off me.

"It better be important, Pamela… Alright… Yes… We'll be waiting."

He hung up and checked his messages. I sprawled across the bed, teasing him. He kissed my navel while listening to whoever had called, probably his day man.

"You are far too distracting, lover."

"That was my intent. What was it that Pam wanted?"

"She's bringing Adele and Jason… They should be here in half an hour. Which means that as much as I want you, we need to get dress and I need to feed."

I watched him go to the walk-in closet, his magnificent butt taunting me. I sighed before joining him. To my disappointment, he was already dressed and had pulled out several different outfits for me to choose from. I thanked him with a kiss before settling for a pair of ripped denim, a white t-shirt and an aqua blue cardigan.

We went downstairs just as Pam's minivan was pulling in the driveway. The moment the front door opened, I knew by the expression on her face that she knew what we had done the previous night.

"Good evening, Master… Good evening, Tinkerbelle."

I hugged my Gran and my brother before being caught in one hell of a hug by Pam.

"I'm very happy for both of you" she whispered in my ear. "The lack of innocence suits you."

I blushed, hoping neither Gran nor Jason noticed. We went to the living room where Eric explained in details – well not all the details, what had happened last night. He reassured Gran that the cleaning team had been at the farmhouse during the day and that a security system had been installed.

"My day man told me some furniture would need to be reupholstered, but he already took care of it. He said it would probably take less than a week."

"Thank you, Eric dear. I can't imagine what would have happened if my Sookie had come back alone that night… If that… monster had been waiting for her…"

"It's alright, Gran, nothing happened."

Eric didn't mention the message the person who had trashed the farmhouse had left, but probably told Pam and Jason while I was showing the rest of the house to Gran. She was impressed with the kitchen and got speechless at the view of the library.

"How do you like my home, Adele?" asked Eric, when they joined us.

"It's atrocious, right Gran?" said Pam, sarcastic as ever.

"Pamela! How can you say that! This house is wonderful, Eric! I really love your private library!"

"What she means is that she's extremely jealous!" laughed Jason.

His remark got him a slap on the arm.

"But it's too much for a young man like you, Eric dear! I can't imagine you, all alone in that big house!"

Gran was walking around the room, admiring the thousand of books lined up.

"Why don't you and Sookie stay with me for a while" proposed Eric. "Until that killer is caught, at least. I would be more at ease if I knew you were both safe in the sanctum of my home."

"I don't know what to say… It wouldn't cause you any inconvenience?"

My Viking smiled warmly. "None at all. You are always welcome in my home, Adele. You are practically family."

It didn't take long for Gran to agree.

"Sookie and I will go to the farmhouse tonight, I will probably rest there and tomorrow we will bring you some of your clothes. Will it be alright?"

Too late, Gran was already settled in one of the comfy couch, a first edition of William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair nestled in her laps. Pam and Jason left for Fangtasia while Eric and I went back to Bon Temps. I was a little apprehensive at the idea of going back, but Eric squeezed my hands, sending me calm and comfort.

As promised by Mr. Burnham, the house was back to its original state, albeit it was missing the couches and armchairs.

"It looks so empty…"

Two strong arms circled my waist from behind and I let out a sigh of relief. That killer might have attack my home, but in Eric's arms I would always feel safe.

"You still haven't feed!" I reminded him.

"I'll grab a Tru Blood…"

"No! I know how much you hate that stuff."

I tucked my hair to the side of my head and offered him my throat.

"I can't ask that of you, min älskare."

"You're not asking, I'm offering."

I was expecting to hear his fangs go down, but instead I was whisked to the cubby. I took the time to admire the place more thoroughly. The living room area was painted blood red with snow white couches. He took my hand in his and walked me to the bedroom. I took off my ballerina flats and nearly purred at the sensation of the plush faux-fur carpet.

In a flash I was as naked as the day I was born and so was Eric. He pressed soft kissed along my throat before sinking his fangs in. I felt him take a couple of mouthful before he licked it clean and pricked his finger, spreading it on the marks, making them disappear.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure."

We ended up in the huge soaking tub, snuggled together. It was hard to keep my hands to myself, but I somehow managed.

"What have you planned for tomorrow, lover?"

"Actually, I have a date tomorrow…"

"Should I feel threatened?"

I let out a laugh.

"If someone should feel threatened, then it's me. You are more to my date taste…"

"Oh, you are meeting Mr. Reynolds?"

"Yeah… Out of all the people in this town he's probably the only one I could find myself being friend with…"

We went back to the bedroom and things got a little heated until once again we were interrupted by Eric's phone. I let out a long sigh while he dealt with his caller. He finally threw the damn thing on the bedside table and resumed his oral exploration of my body.

"Who was it?" I asked between moans.

"Pam… Fucking cock blocker…"

"And… And what did… the cock blocker wanted?"

His mouth traveled down and found my nub.

"Oh my… Jesus!"

"The disco triplets were apparently causing havoc at Merlotte's… Compton left with them… I'll deal with them later…"

"Fuck Compton and the triplets… I need you! Please!"

And we forgot all about them until dawn came.

**TBC**


	15. Chapter 14

**Author Note: So, so sorry about the lateness of this update! It wasn't because I suffered a case of the blank page (I wrote several future chapters since my last update) but more a case of laziness. Yeah, I was lazy! I had two weeks off from work and spent them writing future chapters and reading other fics. But here's chapter 14! I hope you like it!**

**As usual thanks for your wonderful reviews - keep reviewing, it help with my laziness ;) I was ecstatic when I read LostInSpace33's review saying she had found my fic through a recommendation on the SVM Library Facebook page. You can't imagine what it meant to me. I don't have low self esteem, but when it's about my writing I doubt myself a lot. And to have an author I love (go and read her fic, Les Bon Temps Rouler on the SVM section!) read my fic and review it? It really boost me!**

**Lots of luv, LaraK**

**Chapter 14**

Unlike the previous morning, I woke up not pinned underneath Eric, but pinning Eric. He was sprawled on the bed, his magnificent butt barely covered by the soft sheets. I resisted the temptation of taking advantage of his dead-for-the-day state once I saw how late it was. I kissed him before making my way out of the cubby and up the stairs.

I didn't really have time for a shower but I really had to do something about my hair: I had a serious case of sex hair. A look at the alarm clock by the nightstand made me sigh. 11h15… I quickly grabbed the first clothes in the closet – a black and white skirt, a white racer back tank top and a denim jacket, before trying to fix my hair. A quick dash of make-up and I was ready for the trek through the woods direction Merlotte's.

Lafayette was waiting for me by the parking lot, smoking what I assumed by the smell was good quality Marijuana.

"Sorry if I'm late…"

"Yous have all the excuses, hookah. If Lala had tall, blond and dead in his bed, Lala too would be almost late!"

I smiled and kissed him on the cheeks.

"You have to tell Lala where you buy them accessories, hookah! Those bracelets would look good on me!"

I really liked him. We made our ways inside and sat down at one of the empty booth. Even though the restaurant was nearly empty, the staff seemed on the edge. Merlotte was yelling from his office at the waitresses, poor Arlene seemed ready to burst into tears and Tara had her usual sour look.

"What's the matter with all of them?" I asked.

Lafayette took his fan out of his pocket and sighed.

"The usual, Sam is pissed off and takin' it off on us poor employees."

"Not a very good work environment, then… Why do you still work here? I mean, couldn't you work full time on the road crew and say 'screw you' to Sam Merlotte?"

He let out a laugh.

"Lala got expensive tastes, Missie."

_"As if I could still pay for Ruby Jean's nut house with only the road crew paycheck… Thank God for the extra…"_

Tara was looking at us suspiciously and after Arlene came to take our order I decided to finally get to the bottom of it.

"What's the matter with Tara? I understand she's quite the sourpuss, but why the animosity against me? I mean, she used to be my friend! I remember all the fun times we had when I came down here as a child…"

"Imma tell you something 'bout that cuz of mine… She jealous, that's all! You gotta understand she ain't had the pink childhood you has. Her mama, Lettie Mae, she never gonna win mama of the year. So your Gran took care of Tara when she was young."

"So, what? She's like that because I came back?"

"Don't you try understand my cuz, Missie. I remember when you came down here, Tara would only talk 'bout her friend from Boston. It was always 'Sookie this, Sookie that'. Lala was startin' to think you was some mystical creature, like those fairies!"

I smiled at the fairy remark. If only he knew.

"You was the bright thin' 'bout Tara's life. She ain't had it easy. My daddy was married to my momma, but Tara's daddy had already bailed on Lettie Mae when she learned she was to have a visit from the fork. Even after my old man became worms food, his mama and papa were there, while Tara had no one but Lettie Mae."

"Your paternal grandparents… You were spending your summer with them, right? That's why you were never in Bon Temps when I came for the summer?"

He nodded. "Up 'till I was 15, yes. Then it was 'Pray the Gay Away Camp'."

"Pray the Gay Away Camp? Those truly exist?"

"They sure do, Missie. And Lala went there every summer 'till his 18th birthday. Didn't work much, Lala is still as fabulous as ever!"

I took a sip of my Sweet Tea. I realized how the way I was raised back in the North differed from the way of living here in the South. While there was still some stigma associated with homosexuality, there were more and more parents rallying in LGTB associations and marching alongside their children for their rights.

"I guess Bon Temps doesn't have a Gay Pride Parade, then…"

"More like Redneck Pride Parade!"

We both laughed out loud, getting death glare from Tara.

"She hates me… She hates me and now she'll hate everything about me."

"Tara hatin' a Stackhouse? Nah… Lala ain't the only one with a crush on a Stackhouse, you know?"

I frowned. "She… She's a lesbian?"

"Tara ain't batting for that team. She got it bad for that sweet brother of yours!"

Tara? In love with my brother? No way!

"You're joking, right?"

"Lala ain't joking 'bout affairs of the heart. Tara's had it bad for your bro ever since she discovered boys ain't gross."

"But I saw her with…"

I stopped before I said too much, but it was too late. Lafayette was into something.

"You saw her with… Who? Tara is one mean bitch, nobody in Bon Temps ain't touchin' her even with a 10 foot pole. You can't let Lala hangin' like that!"

"Shit… I… I saw her the other night, you know when I came in and you introduced me to Terry, with… with Merlotte."

"Sam?! You sure it wasn't one of their many screamin' fight?"

"No, they were going at it. All hot and bothered."

"That skinny little… Really?"

As if on cue, Merlotte came out of his office and joined Tara behind the bar. And, as if to contradict all I had just told Lafayette, started to yell at the poor girl.

"Arlene, what crawled into Sam's cute behind?"

The redhead sighed. "The Tru Blood truck came in this mornin', to collect the expired batch we had so he could get a refund, but… It disappeared! And he's been actin' crazy since Andy showed up askin' 'bout it."

_"If Sam is the one who trashed the Stackhouses' home I'm quitting! Ain't no way I'm gonna work for someone who tried to arm poor Mrs. Stackhouse! Ain't her fault if her friends ain't got no pulse! But then… Vamps are dangerous… No! Mrs. Stackhouse is the sweetest woman ever!"_

Although the disappearance of his stock of expired Tru Blood seemed to make Merlotte the primary suspect in the trashing of the farmhouse, I was pretty sure that my little speech the other night had put the fear of God – Vampire Sex God that is – in him. Lowering my shields, I caught some of his thoughts.

_"Fucking Bon Temps PD… Where the fuck are all those Tru Blood bottles? If what Andy said was true, there's no way I'll ever get my refund! I should have never bought that crap in the first place!"_

Arlene nearly jumped when Merlotte yelled at her and went back to the kitchen.

"Now, how 'bout you tell Lala all 'bout you and Blond, Tall and Dead?"

"What do you want to know?"

"How 'bout how you met? Where can Lala find some fine piece of dead ass like that?"

_"Cause Eddie ain't nice like her vamp! But Eddie is nice enough, a few BJ in exchange of blood that I get to sell back…"_

So Lafayette had a deal with a vampire… At least he wasn't a drainer!

"Well, I've known Eric all my life or almost. My dad worked for him, his Childe and his Maker."

"And... Come on, baby doll, give Lala some meat!"

I laugh. "What do you want me to tell you? I've known him since I was a little girl, he saved my life and I always had a crush on him."

"That all?"

"I don't know what else to tell you! For a long time he was my dad's client, the change in our relationship was pretty recent."

"At least you ain't one of those Fangbangers like Dawn was."

"No, I'm not! I mean, up until two nights ago I was a vi…"

I stopped midsentence.

"You was a virgin? So the Vamp took your V card?"

"Shit… I am so not telling you more!"

"Well if you is that talkative without even a drink in, can't imagine what your lily white ass might say after a couple!"

We spent the rest of our 'date' gossiping about almost anything. Well Lafayette tried more than once to get me to tell him more info about Eric and I using several pitchers of Margarita, but I'm a lady – when I want – and ladies don't kiss and tell. We were halfway through our third pitcher of when Deputy Jones came in, her clothes and skin covered in soot.

"Kenya, my dear chocolate Goddess, what did Lala tell you? Don't you use black! You ain't gonna catch a man lookin' like Cinderella!"

"Shut up, Lafayette!"

"Chill out, baby girl! Tell Lala what got your panties in a twist."

The Deputy sighed before taking a seat next to us.

"We got called as backup by the guys in Monroe. Huge fire at those vamps' house, you know the three who came down here last night. Anyway some fuckers burned their house down this morning. Four dead vamps, one of them is that vamp who talked at the DGD meeting. Vampire Bill I think was his name."

So the disco triplets AND Compton were goners. Guess Eric wouldn't have to deal with Malcolm, Liam and Diane and I wouldn't have to deal anymore with Compton the creep.

"Do they have any idea who might have done it?" I asked, curious.

"That's for the Monroe Sheriff to figure out. We got our hands full with all those girls murder and the trashing of your house, Miss."

Lafayette and I finished our pitcher of Margarita then it was time for him to get ready for his shift. We kissed goodbye before promising to get together for a night on the town – he was pretty curious about going to Fangtasia, having never been there before.

I made my way back to the farmhouse, Eric would probably be up by now. I went down to the cubby – if we could call the luxurious suite a cubby – and smiled when I realized he was still in the same position as when I had left him earlier. I took off my shoes and slipped next to him, my hands making their way to his beautiful butt.

I snuggled next to him and soon his hands were making their way down my skirt.

"Have I told you how much I love it when you're wearing skirt?"

I sighed as his wicked hand ripped my panties.

"You smell so good, lover. Like sunshine…"

"In a pretty blond bottle" I finished, smiling.

He had more than once called me that.

"My own sunshine…"

I let him play with my body, my mind forgetting everything but the felling of his hands and the pleasure he was giving me. Several minutes later I was panting and spent while he was smirking devilishly at me.

"How was your day, min älskare?"

"Good. I had fun with Lafayette. Oh, there was a fire in Monroe."

"And it concerns me because…?"

"The fire was at the Disco Triplets'. They found four… I guess you could see remains. Malcolm, Liam, Diane and Compton, I guess. It was no accident, the fire was started in the morning…"

"Fuck… More paperwork! I better start working on them."

"You do that, I think I'll go to the cemetery and 'pay my respect' at Compton's grave."

"Why would you do that?!"

"I would do it for anybody… If Diane, Malcolm or Liam had a tomb in the Bon Temps cemetery I would go and pay my respect. Nobody deserves to die like that Eric, especially Vampires who are at their most vulnerable during the day…"

I kissed him before putting my shoes back on.

"Do your paperwork and when I'll come back we'll take advantage of that huge shower…"

He smirked. "We still have to bring some of Adele's things…"

"I'm talking about making Little Eric happy and you bring in my Gran?"

"There's nothing 'little' about my so called Little Eric!"

I laughed. "You are right. More like a Gracious Plenty."

"Then come back soon lover so the Gracious Plenty can do plenty of good things to you!"

I was smiling like a fool as I made my way to the garden where I picked some of Gran's flower. I walked toward the cemetery, the sun slowly setting in the horizon. It didn't take me long before I found the old tombstone with the empty grave. I put the flower on it and remarked that fresh lilies had been put on Caroline Compton, Thomas Compton and Sarah Compton-Harris' tombs.

"I can't really say that I'm sad that you're finally dead… I didn't know you enough to have an opinion of you, but what little I knew pretty much creeped me out. I hope you found peace and that you were finally reunited with the family you lost so long ago. Anyway, nobody deserved to meet the true death the way you did. I do hope you had a pretty good last night with the Triplets, they sure knew how to party… Rest in peace, Bill Compton."

I turned around, ready to leave, when something grabbed my ankle. In a matter of second I was laying on the dirt ground, fighting off whatever had grabbed me. The newly risen moonlight shone on my attacker's face, two white and deadly fangs ready to bite me and drain me. I closed my eyes and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

TBC


	16. Chapter 15

**Author Note: I know... This update is very late! And I did leave you with a cliffhanger! But what can I say, real life sucked these past two weeks. I dogsit my Aunt's two little dogs yet again (her Paris trip in August apparently wore her out) while she was in Cuba over Thanksgiving (the Canadian one, of course). Unfortunately, on Thanksgiving night her purebred female schnauzer died in my arms. Since I was not the owner of the dog, the SPCA couldn't take the body so I had to wait until my Aunt came back, on Wednesday. To make a long story short, we turned my spare bedroom into a walk in fridge thanks to my A/C and I spent two long sleepless nights.**

**Anyway, I'm back and I'm so sad to see that so many of my favourite fics got pulled from ! I'm not really afraid that this fic will get pulled, but better safe than sorry. So in order to feel safe and in support to my fellow authors who fell victim to the witch hunt, I opened a fictionpad account, under LaraKingsley, and I will post ****simultaneously on both site.**

******Again, thank you so much for all the reviews! I always love hearing your thoughts on this story. Please continue to review it. And don't forget to check out the pinterest page (link is on my profile) So here's chapter 15! Enjoy! LaraK**

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**Chapter 15**

I turned around, ready to leave, when something grabbed my ankle. In a matter of second I was laying on the dirt ground, fighting off whatever had grabbed me. The newly risen moonlight shone on my attacker's face, two white and deadly fangs ready to bite me and drain me. I closed my eyes and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Thanks to Eric's blood in my stream, I was a little stronger than usual. A well placed kick into my attacker's family jewels and he was flying across the cemetery. I barely had time to get up before Eric vamped next to me, fangs down, protectively putting me behind him while my attacker got up.

"Compton?!"

"What the fuck, Compton? Weren't you supposed to have met your True Death?"

"What are you talking about, Northman?"

I pushed Eric away and went to stand in front of Compton. A goofy grin appeared on his face, but quickly disappeared once my hand connected with his cheeks.

"That's for attacking me, asshole! And what were you doing, resting in the ground? Don't you have a house?"

"I… It's not light tight yet…" he blabbered. "I'm sorry if I… I rose and the smell was… exquisite!"

"Well the exquisite smell is not for you!"

"I'm… I'm terribly sorry! I would have never…"

He took a deep breath, inhaling my scent and it really creeped me out.

"Your smell… it's different. It's why I didn't recognize it. Something has changed in you…"

"That's none of your business, Compton" said Eric, wrapping his long arms around my waist. "Now, how come you haven't met the True Death?"

"What are you talking about? I…"

"Diane, Liam and Malcolm… Their house was burned down earlier this morning. They found four coffins with remains in it" I explained.

"And since you and your little friends left the Shifter's bar together last night it was assumed you were in the fourth one. Can I tell you how disappointed I am that you are not?"

"Eric, please…"

My Viking was having so much fun.

"They met the True Death? But… I did left Merlotte's with them last night, but I didn't follow them to Monroe… I rested here… I…"

"What a shame" said Eric, nonchalant. "I had already typed the letter to your Maker. I'll keep a copy of the document, you know just in case you do meet your True Death…"

"Are you threatening me, Northman?"

I sighed. They sounded like two roosters in a henhouse.

"Sookie is mine, Compton. I protect what's mine. Touch her again and you'll experience my wrath."

"The Great Northman has a pet! I wonder what the Queen would think…"

"She's not a pet, but she's mine! And the Queen should already know, Compton. The papers regarding my 'ownership' of the Stackhouses, ALL the Stackhouses, have been sent years ago."

Compton seemed surprised by this bit of info.

"Years ago, you say? But does she still want to be yours? Does she know what type of vampire you are? Does she know about your ruthlessness? Your tyrannical ways?"

"Stop talking about me as if I wasn't here!" I yelled, exasperated. "For your information, Mr. Compton, yes, I know what type of vampire Eric is. Do I have to remind you that I work for him? I have seen him at what you would probably consider his worst. But I admire him for it. He's not to be messed with. And you know what? I am proud to be his!"

I felt a wave of pride and lust fill me and one look at my Viking told me we needed to get back to the farmhouse ASAP, otherwise we would put quite a show for Compton.

"If I were you, Compton, I'd listen to what the lady says and leave her alone. Oh and if you're interested I could give you the name of the guy who built my resting place under the Stackhouses' home. He's quite pricey, but I'm pretty sure you're far from being a pauper. The Queen must pay you handsomely and didn't you amass quite a fortune during the early 20th century with Lorena?"

Compton suddenly became stiff before vamping through the cemetery toward his house. Eric let out a laugh before circling my waist and flying us to the farmhouse. We landed on the porch and soon he was attacking my lips.

"I should have never let you go there alone! Don't you ever do that again!"

"Do what, Eric? There was no way of knowing…"

"Just promise me you'll be more careful. There's still a killer on the loose, a killer who seems to prefer women who hang around my lot. I can't always be there…"

His eyes softened and gone was the mighty vampire sheriff. Standing in front of me was MY sweet Eric.

"You can't imagine the pain I felt sensing your fear…"

I softly brushed his long hair.

"I'm sorry… I…"

I didn't know what else to say so I just kissed him, trying to pour all my feelings for him in it. It must have worked because I got nearly drown in his lust and had a Gracious Plenty poking my abdomen.

"Someone's happy to see me it seems…"

He smiled before frowning.

"A car is coming… Were you expecting anyone?"

I shook my head before concentrating a little. Trying to peruse someone's thoughts at a distance was difficult, but not impossible. And since the only people within several miles were me and two vampires, it was easier.

"It's Jason…" I sighed.

"Seems like your brother took lessons in cockblocking with my Childe."

While I loved my brother to death, I had hope for some quality naked time with Eric before having to go to his Shreveport's house.

"Why don't you go and take a shower, there's dirt in your hair. I'll bring you something to wear and entertain cockblocker 2.0 in the meantime."

"Do you mind if I shower in the cubby?"

The multiple massage shower heads would do miracle to my achy muscles.

"You don't need to ask, lover. This is your house."

I smiled. "I might be tempted into moving down, then. My bed, while brand new, is not as comfortable as yours and the bathroom is to die for…"

"Good, because I don't plan on letting you sleep anywhere else but next to me."

He gave me a small slap on the butt, sending me inside the farmhouse. I quickly went down the cubby stairs and started to strip. I scattered my clothes along the way to the bathroom hoping to lure him into joining me. I did felt his lust when he dropped the clothes on the bed, but it was soon replaced by annoyance. I was tempted to use one of the handheld shower head to titillate him through our bond by pleasuring myself, but decided against it. I didn't want my brother to witness my Viking in a state of high lust.

Wrapping myself in a fluffy towel I went toward the bedroom and found a pink cami/Capri pants pj. I towel dried my hair before braiding it. I might prefer sophisticated updos to ponytail, but I loved braids. It reminded me of the long evenings spent in Öland in front of the fireplace, 8 years old me babbling about everything and anything and Eric patiently braiding my hair.

I found my brother and my Vampire sitting at the dining room table, Jason sipping a beer while Eric had poured himself a glass of Royalty Blend, a duffel bag containing what I presumed was Gran's stuff at their feet.

"Hey sis!"

"Jase… Not that I don't really mind, but what are you doing here?"

"Well Pam and I thought that you and Eric would probably prefer to spend some time alone so I came here to grab some of Gran's stuff to bring to her in Shreveport. But Eric just told me he had to attend some business back in town so I thought, why not spend the evening with my favourite little sister."

"I'm your only sister, Jason."

He grinned, his grin that would normally allow him into any girl's bed. Eric finished his drink before getting up and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Jag ska försöka att inte vara för lång, älskare. Jag planerar på att hålla dig vaken hela natten ... (_I'll try not to be too long, lover. I plan on keeping you up all night ..._)"

"Oh, gross!" yelled Jason. "Do I have to remind you that I speak Swedish as well?"

I sensed amusement coming from the bond as Eric's hands intertwined with mines before dropping the mother of all kisses on my lips.

"I love you" I whispered, handing him the duffel and sending him on his way.

He winked before vamping to the door.

"I'm going to have to bleach my eyes! I don't want to see my little sister being groped by her boyfriend, Sook!"

"Bleach your eyes? You think I didn't want to bleach my brain each time I accidentally caught you reminiscing about your numerous conquests? Shit, if I did my brain would have as many holes as a piece of Swiss cheese!"

We both burst in laughter, laughing so hard my side started to hurt. I put Eric's empty glass in the dishwasher before putting the bottle of Royalty Blend back in the wine cooler, taking a bottle of red Gaul Ambrosia for myself.

"So… How has it been for you, big brother?"

"Not so bad. Work is work and I don't get tease too much at the court house… Apparently the former Judge Carmichael was arrested last year by State Troopers inside his own court room. Hit and run and DUI."

"Wow! There's goes his credibility!"

"Which is why he's the former Judge Carmichael. He's probably now sharing a cell with a guy he sent behind bars!"

I sipped my glass of wine, enjoying this quiet time with my brother. He was telling me about this weird girl, probably high on something, who had tried to make a pass at him the previous night at Fangtasia.

"She was kind of pathetic, you know, asking me if I knew somebody who could sell her something that would allow us to have an epic time. I think she was looking for V, which is a pretty dumb thing to do in a Vampire bar."

I had to admit that it was, especially at Fangtasia. Eric and Pam had a zero tolerance against V dealers and users. Pam had even become a master at detecting people under V influence.

"Oh, I didn't tell you! You'll never guess who I saw the other day at the Monroe Home Depot. No peeking in my brain, please!"

I frowned, trying to guess without using my gift.

"I don't know… The tooth fairy?"

"Very funny! No, I saw Bartlett."

I nearly spit my wine.

"He's still alive?"

Bartlett Hale, Gran's estranged brother, was a sore subject in the family. We hadn't heard from nor seen him since Gran had chased him out of the farmhouse with her shotgun.

"Alive and still kicking, it seems, but he's now confined to a wheelchair. The bastard might also be senile, he thought I was dad! Anyway, I didn't want to chat with him but he had the gall to ask about you and Hadley. It took everything I had not to grab a drill and give him a new asshole."

Our 'dear' Uncle Bartlett – insert sarcasm, apart from being our great-uncle, was also a child molester. He had molested our Aunt Linda years before and had done the same thing to poor Hadley. I was six years old when the whole sordid thing was brought to light. It was one of those moments my little gift was quite useful. While I was already pretty good at keeping my shields up, being surrounded by people tended to make it quite overwhelming for me. We were all in the living room, Jason and I playing on the ground while the adults enjoyed coffee. Hadley was sitting in Bartlett's laps and Aunt Linda seemed quite distraught. That's when my shields went down and shit hit the proverbial fan.

Aunt Linda was thinking about the years of abuse she had suffered from Bartlett, hoping her little girl wasn't suffering the same fate. Hadley was thinking it was a good thing I was spending the summer in Bon Temps, that maybe Uncle Bartlett would make me his new special girl. Bartlett was thinking about how lucky he was to now have two little girls at his disposal.

While my telepathy was a well known and accepted fact within my immediate family, i.e. my parents, Jason and Gran, the rest just thought I was a peculiar child and was quite good at reading people's body language. So it caused quite a commotion when I announced that I didn't want to be Bartlett's special girl like Aunt Linda and Hadley. Let's just say that Bartlett got quite a view of Gran's shotgun barrel, that Dad's fist connected with his face and that lots of tears were shed.

"Do you think things would have been different if Aunt Linda had agreed to press charges?"

I nodded. Dad had been furious at his sister for refusing to go to the police. It only made matter worse when Aunt Linda also refused to mom and Gran's suggestion of having Hadley consult a therapist. Up until he died, dad thought that the reason why Hadley turned so wild was because of the trauma she had suffered and the fact that she never got any help for it. But Aunt Linda thought that if she herself had been able to overcome it without any shrink's help so could her daughter.

"You know, for a little while I kind of regretted exposing him. I know, it's crazy, but Gran was so mad after… Not at me, of course, but at herself for not having been able to see that her own little girl had been abused. And I'm not talking about Hadley! She was so angry at me, I never understood. I mean, she wanted it to end, but in a way she was mad at me for telling…"

"That's Hadley to you. Let's just be glad the bastard didn't get to touch you. I think it would have been worse for him, you were already Eric's favourite…"

I knew my brother was trying to lighten the mood, making joke about me being Eric's favourite, but I couldn't stop myself from imagining what could have happened. Vampires were bloodthirsty creatures, there was no denying it, and most of them didn't have any morals regarding humans. But Eric had some morals, remains of his human life. Pillaging and raping women is what most of us, modern folks, think about Vikings, but that wasn't true. At least in part. Yes, there was pillaging, but rape? I knew from Pam that Eric had never forced himself on a woman – honestly who wouldn't beg for a piece of him? – and that it had been something he had taken from his human life. Children were also something that was sacred to him, going back to the murder of his parents and baby sister. Of course Eric would have wanted to torture and kill Bartlett if the sick bastard had touched me.

We dropped the subject and talked about more enjoyable things. Time passed quickly and soon it was time for him to head back to Shreveport. I was getting ready to head down to the cubby when the land line phone rang.

"Stackhouses residence!"

"Oh, Miss Stackhouse, it's me, Arlene. Could I talk to Mrs. Adele?"

"Good evening, Arlene! I'm sorry, but Gran is staying in Shreveport for an extended period of time. May I help you in any way?"

"Shoot… I was hopin' she could maybe babysit Lisa and Coby tomorrow night. Rene and I are goin' out and my babysitter is at a family thin'…"

"Well Gran is quite enamoured with her accommodation in Shreveport, so I don't think she'll be back soon, but if you want I could watch them for you."

"You would really? Thank you! I'll brin' them down 'round 6. Thank you so much, Miss Stackhouse!"

"Please, Arlene, call me Sookie."

I hung up and smiled. Babysitting two kids shouldn't be too hard.

I went back to the cubby and decided to wait for my Viking. I looked through his drawer and took a crisp white dress shirt. While my pajamas were quite comfortable, nothing f

elt better than to be surrounded by his scent.

It didn't take him long to come back. He vamped to me, looking like a predator eyeing his prey.

"Hey there… Wanna join me?"

I instantly found myself trapped between the mattress and a wall of muscles. His lips were on mine and his Gracious Plenty was pressing against my core. He let out a groan at my pantyless state before quickly discarding his pants and sinking into me. Our hips moved as one, doing that ancient dance. He brought me not once, not twice, but three times to the height of ecstasy before reaching his own. We were a tangled mess of limbs, my sweaty skin glued to his cool one.

"Shit… You're not so bad for an old man…" I said, trying to catch my breath.

"An old man?" he replied, raising an eyebrow. "This old man is going to show you what he's capable of!"

"Please, give me time to recover! If not, I might not be able to walk tomorrow."

"I'd love that, perfect excuse to stay in bed with you."

His lips pressed on my temple.

"As much as I would enjoy spending an uninterrupted evening in bed with you, I kind of agreed to babysit tomorrow… Arlene Fowler, she's a waitress at Merlotte's… Normally Gran would babysit her two kids, but I don't think we'd be able to convince her to leave your library anytime soon, right?"

He smiled. "I found her surrounded by dozen of books. I'm not even sure if she ever went to bed…"

"You're going to regret ever inviting her!"

"Never. It makes her happy which makes you happy in return. So, lover, do you want me to keep you company while you babysit the teacup humans?"

"Would you?"

"I hear that once the teacups go to bed, babysitter normally sneak their boyfriend in and make out on the couch until the parents gets home."

"I wouldn't know, I never had a boyfriend to sneak in while I was babysitting… But I won't even have to sneak you in…"

"And you're not a teenager anymore, so we can do much more than make out. We could wait until the teacups are asleep and go down here where I would ravish your delectable body…"

"I like that idea…"

"Want a preview of tomorrow night?"

I nodded before straddling him. The night was still young and I could always sleep in the next morning.

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**TBC**


	17. Chapter 16

**Author Note: Hiya! Hope everybody is having a good week. So far mine has been pretty good, except for yesterday when a friend of mine sent me a digital copy of She-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless' latest so-called book. I was hoping against hope that _After Dead_ would contain some HEA for Eric and Sookie, but I was greatly disappointed. Well, not really. I had made my peace with the fact that She-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless had backstabbed her fans, but a girl could dream. I won't bother telling you in detail what I thought of this so-call book (barely 27 pages when put together) just that it took me less than 30 minutes to go through it. I feel like I was cheated, like She-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless spent more than a decade making me love this amazing character with qualities AND flaws, making me believe that Sookie and Eric were made to be, the ultimate love story, all to do a 180 in the end and tell us that she had planned the ending since the beginning. That she had put hints all through the series that Sookie would end up with the Shifter... I guess I didn't read the same books She-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless think she wrote.**

**Anyway, enough dwelling on that. There's still hope for the TV series (Yes there is! I'm optimist! Don't burst my bubble!) and there's always fanfictions! Which is why I'm giving you this new chapter! Don't forget to review, I love them all so much. And keep checking the pinterest page (link on my profile). Lots of luv, LaraK.**

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**Chapter 16**

As promised, Eric kept me up all night. I went to sleep with a smile on my lips and woke up around 1PM, sated and sore in such a delicious way. I reluctantly left my dead for the day Viking's side, kissing him softly on the lips, before making my way upstairs. I couldn't remember if Arlene had said anything about the kids eating before coming so I decided to kill two birds with one stone by going down to Merlotte's to ask her and grab a bite.

I got dressed into one of the cute sundress I got at Target the other day – a white one with quite a plunging neckline that I knew Eric would appreciate – and a faded jeans jacket and made my way toward the bar and grill. The place was practically empty at this time with the usual drunk, Jane Bodehouse I had learned, sitting at the bar.

"Hey Tara!" I said to the young woman manning the bar.

"Hey…"

"_What the hell does she want? Rub in my face how better than me she is? How friendly she is with my cuz?" _

Her thoughts did hurt me, but after my conversation with Lafayette I sort of understood why she was like that.

"Is Arlene in today? I really need to talk to her."

"_Being friend with Lafayette wasn't enough? She has to be friend with Arlene too! Well, Arlene's not really my friend, but…" _

"She sure is. Hey Terry, could you tell Arlene someone's in to see her?"

The big burly man nodded and smiled upon seeing me.

"Afternoon, Miss Stackhouse!"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Bellefleur. Hope you're having a nice day!"

"_She's so nice and pretty! Not as pretty as Arlene… But nobody's ain't been so nice to me…" _

So Terry Bellefleur had a crush on Arlene Fowler, who would have guess? I grabbed a menu from the counter and order some crispy chicken and fries. Arlene soon came from the kitchen and looked positively anxious upon seeing me.

"Miss Stackhouse… I mean, Sookie… You ain't here to tell me you ain't gonna be able to watch Coby and Lisa…"

"No! Don't worry, I can't wait to babysit your kids, but I forgot to ask you if I need to plan dinner for them?"

Relief appeared on her face. "Thank God! I was scared you were goin' to tell me… Anyway, if it doesn't bother you to feed them, normally Mrs. Adele always does."

"No problem at all."

"I better go back to work if I wanna get outta here!"

I enjoyed the rest of my meal under the careful eyes of both Tara and Ms. Bodehouse.

"So, Tara… I was thinking we might do something one of these days, you know like we used to when we were little girls. We could ask Lafayette to join us, I had so much fun with him."

"_What does she want? I mean she just hop and left and never came back… She was my only friend and she abandoned me!" _

"I don't have a lot of girl friends, apart from Pam. You met her the other night at the DGD meeting, right?"

"The blond vamp chick that looked like she came out of a fashion magazine?"

I nodded. "Yes, she's one of my clients and I've known her since childhood. But, as you said it, she's a vampire and her schedule is pretty nocturnal which mean I can't enjoy days in the sun with her. I remember we used to lie in the backyard at the farmhouse for hours when we were little…"

"Yeah… I think I would love that."

I finished my meal and made my way toward the farmhouse. I still had a couple of hours before Eric would rise and decided to take a small nap in the meantime. I woke to the delightful feeling of my lover's body pressing against mine.

"Wake up, min älskare."

"Hey… I could get used to waking up like this."

His lips traveled down my neck, his fangs softly scratching my skin.

"Your wish is my command, lover" he purred, capturing my lips.

If they taught kissing at University, Eric Northman would have graduated summa cum laude - with highest honor. And the way he used his hands on me as if I was the most priced instrument? He was clearly a virtuoso at Sookie Stackhouse.

"When are the teacup humans coming?" he asked, in between kisses.

"6… But I have to make dinner for them… God, I'm so wet already!"

"You're always wet and ready for me, lover."

"Only for you…"

"It's a good thing I'm always hard and ready for you too, then."

His Gracious Plenty pressed against me, showing me just how ready he was. Soon my panties were shredded pieces of lace and he was inside me. He didn't take time to completely undress me, just rolled up my dress and sank into heaven – his words, not mine. Here I was, completely dressed while he was as naked as the day he was born. My hands were everywhere, his long hair, his fabulous abs, his toned butt. I came screaming his name and he came screaming mine. After a while he gently rolled off me and kissed me before getting off the bed, his glorious butt begging to be touched.

"Go back to sleep, lover."

As much as I wanted to stay awake, my post-orgasm body couldn't resist the pull and soon I was back to sleep. When I finally opened my eyes it was pretty damn close to 6PM and I still had to make dinner! I got up and quickly ran up the cubby stairs. The wonderful smell of cooking hit my nose as soon as I opened the door. I found Eric, dressed in tight dark jeans and a black V neck sweater, preparing a salad.

"Hey… What are you doing?"

"You said you needed to make dinner for the teacups… I remembered you loved baked macaroni and cheese so…"

I smiled and kissed him.

"Thank you. I'm sure the 'teacups' are going to like it too."

I sat at the table, watching him vamp through the kitchen finishing his preparation.

"By the way, why do you call them 'teacup'?"

He smiled, sat in the chair next to me before grabbing me by the waist, sending me on his laps.

"Because they are miniature humans. Like teacups. While Pam never liked children, Jason and you excluded, I always like them. There's something about their innocence, I don't know. They're not corrupted yet."

He was so sweet that it aroused me. Which reminded me that, underneath my sundress, I was still commando. I reluctantly got up from my comfortable spot, heading toward the stairs, when the doorbell alerted me of the arrival of Arlene and her children.

"I'm coming!" I said, sending an apologetic look toward my Viking.

I opened the door and smiled at the four people standing in front of me. Arlene and Rene were dressed to the nine and there was no denying whose kids Coby and Lisa were. While Coby's hair was fair, his sister was a flaming redhead like their mother. But both of them had her eyes.

"Good evening! Come on in! You must be Coby and Lisa…"

The two children smiled shyly, both holding their mother's hands.

"Lisa, Coby… This is Miss Sookie, she's Mrs. Adele's granddaughter. She's goin' to watch over you tonight while mama and Rene enjoy some adults time."

"Hi Miss Sookie" said the two children.

"I hope you're hungry, Eric has been slaving in the kitchen since sunset!"

"Eric?" asked Arlene. "You mean that tall blond vampire?"

I nodded before dropping my shields.

"_Should I leave my kids with a vamp? I didn't even think to brin' silver… But Miss Stackhouse is here… And Mrs. Adele seems to trust him…" _

She turned toward her boyfriend and bit her lips.

"You are friend with a vampire, Miss Sookie?" asked Coby, his eyes as big as saucer.

"I am, Coby. In fact I work for vampires."

"Mama said you were a liar" added Lisa, not so sure.

"It's LAWYER, Lisa" explained Rene, his accent sending a chill to my spine.

I don't want to sound posh or anything, but Cajun accents really weren't my thing. Eric must have felt my discomfort because he appeared out of nowhere behind me.

"Good evening. You must be Ms. Fowler. Eric Northman."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Northman. This is my boyfriend, Rene Lenier…"

Rene extended his hand toward Eric who simply looked at it with a frown.

"Vampires don't shake hands" I explained.

An awkward silence filled the foyer. The two children were in awe at Eric's tall frame while their mother and her boyfriend clearly didn't know how to deal with the whole thing.

"I hope you like baked Mac and Cheese, kids, because Eric did some for you."

"Is it the one in the box?" asked Lisa.

Eric smiled. "Of course not! I made it from scratch."

Arlene looked incredulous. "You cook? I thought vampires didn't eat… well you do drink, but… Whenever Vampire Bill comes to Merlotte's, he always cringes at people eatin'…"

"_Oh, shit! I'm makin' a fool of myself!" _

"Some younger vampires tend to dislike watching humans eat, Ms. Fowler. But I am quite older than Mr. Compton. And while I do not eat, I kind of enjoy cooking. My friend and I made a bet back in the 60s that I unfortunately lost. My penance was to take cooking classes with that tall woman… What was her name again? Oh yes, Julia Child. She was quite the teacher. A little disappointed that I never tasted what I made, but an unforgettable lady."

Eric had once told me about his cooking lessons with Julia Child and I was quite grateful for them, especially that summer we spent in Öland.

"Well, we better go, right Arlene?"

The redhead shook her head, as if getting out of a trance and leaned down to hug her children.

"Be nice to Miss Sookie and her… friend, alright?"

The two little one nodded and waved at their mother. I took them to the kitchen and sat them down while Eric took the plate of baked Mac and Cheese out of the oven without mitts, making both children gasp.

"Why don't you sat down and eat with them, min älva. I'll get myself something to drink."

I served Coby and Lisa before getting myself a plate. Eric went to the wine cooler and poured himself some Royalty Blend in an opaque glass.

"Wow, Eric, its delicious!" I said after a bite.

He smiled. "Happy you enjoy it, min älva. Is it to your liking, teacups?"

Coby nodded and Lisa smiled.

"Why do you call Miss Sookie 'mine alva'?" asked the little boy, in between bites.

"It's pronounced min älva and it's a term of endearment in Swedish."

"A what?"

Patiently Eric explained. "A term of endearment is a word used to describe someone to whom you feel love or affection. Like my love or sweetheart."

"Like when Rene calls mama 'cherie'?" asked Lisa.

"Yes. Min älva means my fairy in English. I've been calling Sookie that since she was a little girl."

"But why? She doesn't look like Tinkerbelle!"

Eric let out a laugh. "If you eat all that's on your plate, I'll tell you the story of how fairy Sookie bestowed her magic upon the ill-tempered Viking."

They quickly finished their meal, beating me to it and even put their empty plates in the kitchen sink. They went back to the table, whispering to each other.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, putting my own plate next to theirs.

Lisa looked at her brother, nodding at him. The little boy took a deep breath before walking toward Eric.

"Can you show us your fangs?"

I could feel that Eric was impressed by the little boy forwardness.

"You want to see my fangs?" he asked, amused.

Both children nodded. In a flash his pearly white fangs were on display, sending both Coby and Lisa into quite a euphoric state.

"Can we touch them?" asked Lisa, her hand already moving toward him.

"Unfortunately, little girl, no. That privilege is reserved only to Miss Sookie."

He winked and smiled at me. I had to bit my lip in order to contain the moan that was building in me. It still surprised me how such simple things were turning me on. I reluctantly went upstairs to put some panties on and when I came back Eric had the kids sitting on one of Gran's Afghan in front of the fireplace, fuming cup of hot cocoa in their little hands.

"I was getting ready to start my story, min älskare (my lover). Would you like to join us?"

"You called her another thin'!" said Coby. "Mine… Alcare?"

I smiled. "It's 'min älskare'. It's another endearment."

"What does it mean?"

I looked at Eric, raising an eyebrow.

"It means 'my love', teacup."

"It's so romantic!" sighed Lisa. "Rene calls mama cherie and darlin' sometimes, but it ain't as beautiful."

"The power of foreign language!"

I sat down next to Eric, treading my fingers with his and leaned toward him.

"You lied to them" I whispered. "You didn't call me 'min kärlek'…"

"What they don't know can't hurt them, älskare…"

We were interrupted by the two little ones asking about the story of Fairy Sookie and her Viking. Eric had a way with words and I have to admit that I was as enthralled with his story as our two little guests. He made our story sounds so beautiful and timeless. Soon Coby and Lisa were asleep.

"Give me a hand and we'll put them in Gran's bedroom."

We tuck them in before closing the door and going back to the living room. I sat down between Eric's tights, my back pressed to his front, his hand resting protectively across my midsection.

"You should put it in writing, you know."

"What?"

"Your story, the Fairy and her ill-tempered Viking. It would make a great children book. It's all in rage, you know? Even Madonna wrote her own. You could write it under a pseudonym, Leif Ulfrikson maybe? You went by Leif for a while and Ulfrikson in honor of your father."

"I'll think about it, lover."

His lips settled on my neck, slowly making their way up my jaw before he turned me toward him. I was laying on top of him, his hands secured on my butt and his mouth battling my own. We made out for a while, slowly making our way from first base to second then to third. We were heading toward home run when Eric stiffen and groaned.

"What? Eric, please don't stop! I'm so in the mood right now!"

"A car is coming down the driveway."

I sighed. Lowering my shields I poked into the minds coming. Arlene was extremely giddy for someone who was coming back from her date so early. We hastily put back our discarded clothes and a quick look at the mirror told me that, despite Eric's pull at my hair, my ponytail was still intact. However Eric's hair looked quite dishevel and I took great pleasure in trying to tame it.

"Here, that's better" I said before a soft knock took our attention toward the front door.

Arlene was literally glowing and shoved her left hand in my face.

"We're engaged!" she nearly yelled.

"Congratulations!"

"Thank you! I can't wait to tell the kids! They're sleepin'?"

I nodded. "They're in Gran's bedroom if you want to collect them."

Eric showed them in and came back shortly, his hands finding their way on the small of my back.

"The Parish really mustn't pay their employees well" he whispered. "Pam once told me a man should spend two months worth of his salary on an engagement ring. Ms. Fowler's ring albeit being pretty at first sight is gold plated and the diamond is a glass gem!"

"How snobbish of you, Eric Northman! You really are your Childe's Maker! Not everybody can afford shopping for jewelries at Tiffany or Cartier!"

"I'm not being a snob! I'm only saying that if a man plans on becoming engaged to a woman he should at least get her something better than a ring bought in the costume aisle!"

I laugh. "Really? And if you were to ask someone to marry you what would you buy, mister?"

"Well, since I don't really have a salary but an income, I'd use two months worth of Fangtasia's profit and I would buy you the most amazing diamond ring. Probably vintage, knowing your taste. Not too big, since you have such delicate hands."

I was quite shocked at his answer. I was about to question him more when Rene and Arlene came back, each carrying a child.

"Again thank you so much, Miss Sookie!"

I smiled warmly. Rene's eyes seemed to be stuck on my throat and I did let my shield goes down for a second.

"_I wonder if he bites her… There's no mark on her neck… Maybe he bites her somewhere else." _

"The pleasure was ours, Arlene."

The moment their car was out of the driveway, Eric's lips were back to 'assaulting' me.

"Where did you learn to make your Gracious Plenty vibrate like that, cowboy? I didn't know vampire could do that."

He groaned before taking his cell phone from his front pocket. He quickly scanned the text before answering it at vamp speed.

"Pam the cock blocker?" I asked, sensing his anger filling our bond.

"No… My accountant, Bruce. Apparently there's $60 000.00 missing from Fangtasia's account."

"Sixty thousand? You think it might be Pam…?"

He sighed. "I know my Childe, if she wanted money to buy something she'd use my black Amex. She has the numbers memorized in her so-called vault. No, the one who did it tried its best to hide it."

"Do you have any idea on who might have done it? I mean, who'd be stupid enough to steal from a vampire?"

He sent several more texts before putting his phone back in his pocket.

"I don't know yet, but I plan on finding out tomorrow. I'm closing the bar for the night tomorrow and calling in an emergency staff meeting. It would be a good thing if you could join us, I'll call Jason and ask him to come too."

"Good idea. Jason could interrogate your staff and I'll read them, at least the human one. Oh, and if we do find the culprit…."

"I promise to turn them to the appropriate authorities… After letting Pam have some fun with them, of course!"

I slapped him on the arm playfully and he feigned being hurt to humour me.

"Come on, let's go back to Shreveport and see if Adele hasn't died of an overdose of literature."

"That would be quite the death for her, dying of too much books!" I laughed.

He closed the door behind me and opened the passenger door of the Corvette. Even though we had been interrupted in our intimate activities and he had received some pretty damn bad news, I could feel through the bond that he was quite happy.

"What has gotten you in such a good mood? After all that had happened I would have expect you to be all grumpy and brooding."

"Bruce's text wasn't the only one I received. I asked my day man to get something for Adele, a surprise, and he texted me to tell me it was waiting at the house in the garage."

"A surprise? Could you tell me what it is? I mean if it's for Gran…"

"No. You can ask questions, but I won't tell you."

I discovered that it wasn't books, cars, jewelries or clothes. It wasn't a trip to all of the Civil War battlefields, nor was it a trip to Europe. When he finally pulled the car in front of his not-so-humble abode, I still didn't know what this surprise was.

"Why don't you go and find Adele while I collect my surprise?"

I pouted. "You still won't tell me…"

"Go inside, lover, and you'll soon know."

I went to the front door and entered the code, smiling at the thoughtfulness of it. The house smelled like home, a mix of Gran's cooking and the lavender candles she loved so much. I went to the library, but the room was empty. Using my gift I quickly found her in one of the upstairs bedroom. I softly knock before opening the door, finding a beautifully appointed room with a huge bed in the middle.

"Good evening, Gran!"

"Sookie! I didn't even hear you coming in! How are you doing, my dear?"

I sat down next to her and kissed her cheek.

"I should ask you that! We've left you all alone in that big house!"

"Don't… I wasn't alone! I had Becky Sharp, Edmond Dantes, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy to keep me company. Did you know that Eric has a first edition of Pride and Prejudice? Autographed by Jane Austen herself?"

I simply smiled.

"Oh and that dear Mr. Burnham came and had lunch with me! He's such a nice man, completely devoted to Eric. Speaking of that sweet boy, where is he?"

As if on cue, Eric appeared in the door, carrying a huge gift bag.

"Good evening, Adele. I hope you are enjoying your stay."

"Eric, my boy! Come here and give me a kiss."

He indulged her, setting the bag next to her. I frowned when it started to move and Eric had his smirk plastered on his face.

"What's in that?" asked Gran, curious.

"That, my dear Adele, is a gift for you. Open it!"

She frowned and looked inside, letting out a shriek of delight. A tiny little ball of hair was nestled in her hands.

"Eric! A dog?"

My Viking was beaming. "It's a Toy Yorkshire Terrier, she won't get much bigger than she is right now. The breeder said she was already house trained and that all she needed was a house and love. I thought you might enjoy having someone with you to keep you company when Sookie has to stay out for business."

"I have to say that I am more of a cat person, but this little thing is so cute. Does she have a name yet?"

"No. That's up to you."

Gran looked at the tiny little dog, then at me. I smiled once I caught her idea for a name.

"That's a great name, Gran. It suits her."

"Then I guess this is it! She does look like a Freyja! It's only right that I name her after one of your Goddess, Eric."

He seemed touched by it and softly stroked Freyja's head.

"Look at the time! I should turn in and so should you two!"

"Goodnight, Gran! Goodnight, Freyja!"

We were halfway through the door when Gran added.

"And don't you worry about me, kids. Make as much noise as you want. After all, my room is located on the other side of the house, I won't even hear anything."

I blushed furiously before hiding my face in Eric's chest. Once he closed the door I looked at him, expecting him to look as shocked as me, but he simply smiled.

"Did my Gran just gave us the okay to have really loud sex?"

"She did, but we didn't need her permission, didn't we, lover?"

He quickly carried me bridal-style toward his room and gently put me in the middle of his bed.

"Thank you, Eric. For everything. I'm always surprised at the kindness you show me and my family."

He smirked. "That's going to be our little secret, right? We wouldn't want my reputation to be tarnished."

"Don't worry. Your reputation is still intact. No one will know that behind the vampire Viking Sex God is hidden a sweet, kind man who likes to make little old women happy."

"Good. But this vampire Viking Sex God doesn't just want to make little old women happy. He really likes to make telepathic fairy lawyer very happy and sexually satisfied."

And he did make this telepathic fairy lawyer very happy and more than sexually satisfied.

**TBC**


End file.
